A Summer in Tuscany

by Sandra J. Swanson

Book Overview

A Summer in Tuscany is read with a warm smile. Funny, informative, thoughtful, the book takes you to the heart of the Italian countryside and into the lives of Tuscany's most charming characters. Readers who harbor a dream to 'live Italian' for a few weeks or for a few months will find the book invaluable. Go on an odyssey with a budding American opera star and her 'entourage,' (her family) to rent a villa in Tuscany and a palace in Spoleto. Pack...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585004162
• ISBN13: 9781585004164
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

"As advertised"

This book was on my bedside table last summer at the nice Nantucket B & B where we stay every July 4 weekend. It was the sorriest looking book that who knows how many folks had fingered through? Nevermind, my husband, now "Richardo" picked it up and didn't put it down. But some pages had been ripped out! It was 167 through 170 and also 205 and 206. He wrote down the page numbers. When we got home he just had to get the book and read those pages. He is just like "Roberto"in the book. We did the trip last month and it was "as advertised" meaning that we learned the Italian words we needed for the tiny ancient Tuscany towns written about in the book that we went to and we found our way around just fine. We found the wineries that the ripped out pages were all about. Guess what, there was a new book on my bedside table July 4, 2005. Cheers -- Bea and "Richardo"

We enjoyed this book before our trip to Italy

My husband and I were planning our first trip to Italy when I read a review of "A Summer in Tuscany" on Rick Steves web site. After reading several books about Italy, and the Tuscany region in particular, we decided that,for us, this was the book that painted the picture of Tuscany. We both read it, and several times during our trip we would say "this is just like Sandra said it was, in the Tuscany book". We even tried the fried anchovies..... I know, but they were great. We felt like a friend had spent a summer in Italy and told us all about it. We now wish we could find a book like this about France!

Benissima!

I love Italy, and therefore I loved this book. It really captured the essence and flavor of that marvelous country. I had it on my living room coffee table when a committee from the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington was at my house for a meeting, and several people recognized the book, and they all love it, too! Most of them are Italian, and even though I'm not, I am just as entralled with the country and the culture. The writing is exquisite, Sandra J. Swanson must be a professional writer, although I think it's her first book, since there are no others listed. I feel like I know her and her family now, the writing was so intimate. When I read that Ms. Swanson had also done the cover illustration I was bowled over! She is truly a Renaissance woman, so Firenze is the perfect place for her!PS, I'd sure love to be around for one of the great meals she prepares!

Delicious

I first heard of this book in the early spring, on The Today Show. The discussion was, How Best to Rent a Villa in Italy? I was intrigued. I ordered the book and I was charmed. There is much information in the book. But it is delicious reading. Suddenly you have completed the book and suddenly you can say wonderful words in Italian and you have delved into the Italian countryside. The title is Tuscany but there is excellent writing about Umbria and the Lakes as well.

Good Groundwork

Once you have read this, you will not be a neophyte if you travel to Italy. It will be as if you have been there before, recognizing, understanding, and appreciating the way Italy lives. It is not for the tourist who moves from big city hotel to big city hotel in a bus. This book gives you the confidence and impetus to venture away from the big cities, as Rick Steves does, but with more class. Andiamo!