Who is the author of those recommended books of Tuscany during WWII?
Oct 30th, 2005, 08:19 AM
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Who is the author of those recommended books of Tuscany during WWII?
I recently read on someone's post about an author with a name similar to (but I know this isn't right) Iris Origo. If memory serves me, this was a woman who lived in southern Tuscany during World War II and wrote of experiences there. I found the books on Barnes & Noble's webiste & wanted to order for my husband's Christmas gift as he's fascinated with WWII history. Alas, I can't remember the author's name or the books...can anyone refresh my memory? Thanks!
Oct 30th, 2005, 09:08 AM
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The book isn't as much about WWII, as it is about people (farmers) trying to scrape out a living with the War around them. It's a diary. You can visit her home at La Foce - and I think you can even stay there.
Stu Dudley
Stu Dudley
Oct 30th, 2005, 09:16 AM
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Yes you can rent the ex-farm homes on her land, but now they are elegant or psuedo rustic! I took the tour of her gardens and it was wonderful, I'll never forget it. It was especially moving after reading the book.
Oct 30th, 2005, 11:16 AM
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Here's another fictional book on a related topic that I quite enjoyed (the author Noel Barber was an accomplished journalist and wrote numerous interesting nonfiction and fiction):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0792710614
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0792710614
Oct 30th, 2005, 11:48 AM
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Also check out The Secret of San(to?) Vittoria: I have lost my very ancient paperback copy but loved it.I believe it was by Morris West (autor of The Shoes of the Fisherman, about the papacy). It was also the basis for a rather bad movie with Anthony Quinn...but the book itself is quirky and charming and captures the odd paradoxes and moral compromises of Italy in WWII.
Oct 30th, 2005, 12:21 PM
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Hi LJ, it is The Secrets of Santa Vittoria. If one has the opportunity and is able to get into conversations with older Italians in Italy sometimes they will start to tell you their stories about WWII and afterwards when Italy was so poor and the population was so devasted. Don't ask direct questions but sometimes the older generation will start talking and if they do it is so interesting, and usually quite sad also. But history from those that were part of it.
Oct 30th, 2005, 12:33 PM
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This is exactly the info I was hoping to glean - thanks, once again, to fellow fodorites for helpful ideas. Along with the recommended books, I just may add the gardens of La Foce to my "to-do" list for our next Tuscan visit in May.
Oct 30th, 2005, 01:24 PM
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About 1/2 of the books I read are about WWII in Europe.
There is a book 'Silence on Monte Sole'. Monte Sole is just south of Bologna and commands two strategic mountain passes, each with a rail line. The first third of the book is a nice expalanation of farming life in Italy.
I have to warn you that the focus of the book is what I think is called a war crime. There many dozen survivors of the war crime, they retell their memories and it might be a very troubling book.
There is a book 'Silence on Monte Sole'. Monte Sole is just south of Bologna and commands two strategic mountain passes, each with a rail line. The first third of the book is a nice expalanation of farming life in Italy.
I have to warn you that the focus of the book is what I think is called a war crime. There many dozen survivors of the war crime, they retell their memories and it might be a very troubling book.
Oct 30th, 2005, 02:11 PM
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The Secret of Santa Vittoria was a very entertaining book, and agreed, a horrible movie. I have always hoped someone would remake the movie, and in Italian. It could be really good.
Aside: the singer Sergio Franchi was the in the movie. I saw him on the street in NY and he was small but very handsome.
Aside: the singer Sergio Franchi was the in the movie. I saw him on the street in NY and he was small but very handsome.
Oct 30th, 2005, 02:15 PM
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Another recommendation: Love and War in the Appenines, by Eric Newby. Newby, who went on to become a well-known travel writer, was a young British soldier when he was captured in Italy during WWII, escaped, was hidden by an Italian family, and fell in love with the daughter of the family that sheltered him. It’s a war story, it’s a travel story, it’s a love story – something for everyone.
