Frances Mayes — A Year in the World

Bantam 2006 Paperback, 420pp. A YEAR IN THE WORLD chronicles the story of Frances Mayes and her husband's year-long adventure in middle age. With her immense knowledge of Italy as a starting point, Mayes turns her keen eye to Europe as a whole. The result is a rich collage of observations, diary entries and letters on a seamless journey through history, time and place. With her vivid descriptions of the food, the people and the small details, Mayes captures our senses. We are able to taste the culture, understand the history and know the nature of a place in a moment. In Naples, the pump-action coffee machines distinguish the Southern Italians from the weaker coffee loving Northerners. In Greece, the drama of the ancient myths resonates against the haunting backdrop of screeching cicadas. In Portugal, the baker's secret-recipe chocolate cake is a welcoming gift where language fails. (ISBN: 9781863253291). Good.