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Review of new non-fiction about a summer spent in Italy by Marlena De Blasi Date published: 8/3/2008
THIS BOOK is a little Author Marlena De Blasi went to the Italian island to fulfill a writing assignment. What she found, by seren-dipity, was a remote mountain villa inhabited by a commune of widows, living under the benevolence of Tosca began life as a peasant girl, traded at age 9 by her father to a wealthy landowner in a deal that provided him with a future paramour for the price of a horse. Raised alongside the cossetted daughters of Leo, a count, Tosca received a superior education in literature and languages, as well as in the manners and customs of the upper class. Beautiful and accomplished, she never, however, lost the thread When the book begins, DeBlasi is mystified yet captivated by the society of women living within the walls of Tosca's villa, offering their skills for the benefit of all who live there. Seasoning the story with colorful details of food and its preparation (DeBlasi has also written several books relating to Italian cooking), she describes the abundance of herbs, vegetables, cheeses, meats and grains grown and harvested in the vast gardens and orchards, pastures and fields of the estate. Meals are prepared in huge stone kitchens and shared at communal tables. The women work together, eat together, pray, comfort and bury one another, and celebrate one another's lives. All this is the backdrop to Tosca's telling of the story And so she talks, steeped in the serenity of one who accepts the life she has lived. That life contained joys and tragedies inherent to a region where class conflicts between the wealthy, the poor and the Mafia were ever-present. Full of truth and vision, this book makes the reader think about getting back to basics--simple foods, honest relationships, appreciating the beauties of the natural world--things often displaced by our hectic lives. Beverly Meyer is a copy editor
Date published: 8/3/2008
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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