‘A Thousand Days in Tuscany’ by Marlena De Blasi
Five out of five stars.
This title sounds very familiar… For good reason, because this book is the sequel to ‘A Thousand Days in Venice’ which I reviewed here. I actually read this book before I read the first one. I found it at the library book sale, flipped to a random page, and couldn’t stop reading. Of course, the book came home with me.
Of the two, this is my favorite. Perhaps because I read it first, perhaps because the writing style is a little different from the other, perhaps because I felt more drawn to the story.
This book is also a memoir, chronicling another part of the authors life. While the last one looked inward, this one looks outward. Since it does look outward, there is much more description of the people, the landscape, and the food. Which is something I personally loved (I am a sucker for beautiful landscape descriptions), but might not appeal to someone else.
The basic structure of the book is set in four seasons. The author and her husband decide to completely change their lives and move from Venice, a city she loves, to rural Tuscany. They move in the summertime, and the book moves from season to season. It chronicles the ups and downs of moving to an entirely new place, making new friends, and trying to find new routines. What does life look like now that they have changed everything?
The authors career was as a chef and a food writer, and quite a bit of the book is focused on food. The food they learn how to cook, the food they share with their new friends, and the food their friends share with them. Food, in the book, is not seen as an isolating enterprise. Rather, the stitching that holds together community and the carrier for traditions passed down from generation to generation. Also, the food they eat is inextricably linked to the seasons. Now that they live in a rural area, what they eat changes with what is fresh and in season. (As an aside, one of the best parts of the book, in my opinion, were the recipes of the food she talked about. I have found one of my favorite bread recipes from that book.) One season, they are tramping through the forest looking for mushrooms, the next season, they are trying to find the warmest place in the house so their bread can rise.
Through it all, they are guided in this new to them life by the people they befriend. In every season, they meet new people and create deeper relationships with the people they know. It is at once a story about food, and about the people who eat the food. After all, what would be a feast without the ones feasting? Specifically, the book focuses on two friends they make in their first year in Tuscany. Both help the author and her husband, though in vastly different ways. One is stuck in the past, while the other looks to the present with unclouded eyes. Both valuable perspectives in their journey.
Over all, it was a slower, thoughtful book about finding community, and what it means to completely change your life. I enjoyed learning about a corner of the world I don’t know much about, and all of the descriptions of food. After reading both books, I really want to visit Italy now!
Have a beautiful day.
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 