Press Release: Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes
Frances Mayes captivated readers with her bestsellers Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany.
Now, the celebrated “Bard of Tuscany” (New York Times) lyrically chronicles her continuing, two-decades-long love affair with Tuscany’s people, art, cuisine, and lifestyle.
*With 25 original recipes this is one experience you won’t want to miss!*
EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY
Seasons of an Italian Life
By FRANCES MAYES
“Mayes’s affectionate and warm memoir vividly celebrates the lush abundance and charm of daily life in the Italian countryside.” —Publishers Weekly
“Mayes is generous with her thoughts and her evocative writing simply oozes charm and warmth.”—Booklist
“Mayes, the sensualist in full bloom.” —Kirkus Reviews
Twenty years ago Frances Mayes, having ended a long marriage and begun a new relationship, was traveling in Italy and happened upon an abandoned, grand, but dilapidated three-story house called Bramasole just outside the Tuscan hill town of Cortona. Mayes immediately fell in love with the house and eventually bought it and began a long and arduous restoration of it. The process of making Bramasole her home—and simultaneously establishing a new life (and a new outlook on life) in Italy—was the subject of her bestselling memoirs Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. In the decade since Bella Tuscany was published, Mayes has gone from being a proud resident of Cortona to one of its most esteemed citizens as well as Tuscany’s literary doyenne.
In her new memoir, EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY: Seasons of an Italian Life (Broadway Books; March 9, 2010; $25.00; 978-0-7679-2982-0), Frances Mayes offers her readers another deeply personal account of her present-day life in Tuscany, encompassing both the changes she has experienced since the publications of Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany and sensuous, evocative reflections on the timeless, unchanging beauty and simple pleasures of Italian life. Interspersed throughout the chapters are 25 sumptuous recipes: Petto d’Anatra Glassato al Caramello Speziato e Carciofi (duck breast with caramelized spices and artichokes), Zuppa di Cavolo Nero, Cannellini, e Salsicce (kale, white bean, and sausage soup), Ravioli Ripieni di Patate con Zucchine e Speck al Pecorino (potato ravioli with zucchini, speck, and pecorino); playful recipes: Pollo al Mattone (chicken under a brick—see attached recipe), and Giusi’s Crespelle ai Porcini e Ricotta (Giusi’s porcini and ricotta crêpes); and delectable desserts like a Torta di Suisine con Mandorle (plum tart).
Throughout EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY, Mayes thoughtfully muses on the many concrete joys of building an Italian life: Tuscan icons that connect with her life and have become for her storehouses of memory; crucible moments from which bigger ideas have emerged; how a significant part of her adjustment to Italian metabolism has awakened her to the possibilities of spontaneity and trust in instinct; and reflections on the writing life she has enjoyed in the room where Under the Tuscan Sun began and on the wider view she’s gained since then.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany, FRANCES MAYES is the author of the travel memoir A Year in the World; the illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home; Swan, a novel; The Discovery of Poetry, a text for readers; and five books of poetry. She divides her time between homes in Italy and North Carolina. Visit: www.francesmayesbooks.com.
Seasons of an Italian Life
By Frances Mayes
Published by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
Hardcover; $25.00; 320 pages
ISBN 978-0-7679-2982-0
For more information about EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY or to schedule an interview with Frances Mayes, please contact Rachel Rokicki at 212-782-8455 or rrokicki@randomhouse.com.
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