Friday, September 02, 2005

That's amore!

I've worked too many long days this week and slept too many short nights, so I'm giving myself a Friday off. I'm in need of a comfort read, so in a minute I'm going to make a pot of tea and slather orange marmalade on some crunchy oatmeal toast, then open Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes.

That book, a poet's mouthwatering memoir detailing the purchase and restoration of an ancient Italian villa, affected my niece's life in a very romantic way. She read it while in high school and was so entranced that although she was fluent in Spanish and needed no more foreign language credits, she resolved to study Italian. She also began to dream of visiting Italy.

She achieved her goals through hard work and determination. She excelled at Italian, and during her last year of college was able to spend several months in Italy.

Last summer I had the pleasure of seeing her married to a handsome Italian man. She's blissfully happy, and she now has plenty of reasons (read: in-laws) to visit Italy often.

Sometimes real life is every bit as satisfying as a good romance novel.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw the movie does that count ;-D
janice

Brenda Coulter said...

Absolutely not! ;-)

The movie was a mediocre romantic comedy very loosely based on the events of the book. Frances's first romance in the movie (with the hot Italian) never happened in the book. And that flirtation with Ed, the American she met in Italy, is also not true to the book. In real life, Frances and Ed were together long before she went to Italy and bought the house.

Under the Tuscan Sun is not a novel, but a memoir. The book is wildly romantic, but it's not about Frances's love life. It's about a house, a country, a delightful people, and incredible food.

Anonymous said...

Spoil sport! ;-D

Anonymous said...

She (the niece) is blissfully happy, indeed. Her Italian husband is a welcome addition to our family, and we have been delighted to combine our families and cultures. They are truly wonderful, joyful people. And trust me, eating is an EVENT with these folks.

Have a nice break/vacation, Bren!

yfs

Pilgrim said...

Too bad our public library is closed all weekend, changing its computer system from proprietary to a commercially-created one. I'd surf right over and order that book. Glad I haven't seen the movie to spoil it.

Also, re your neice: truth is stranger than fiction. Would anyone believe that, if you wrote it in a book?