The urge to escape the comforts, routine and refinements of our living conditions to somewhere more challenging, primitive and raw is something that many of us feel - especially those who read books. The books we read can sometimes stimulate the urge, sometimes satisfy it. All I ask of such books is that the author can write well and that he is not boastful. Eric Newby, especially in "A Small Place in Italy", meets these requirements admirably. Indeed, he ranks for me as a travel writer of near genius. He was almost 50 years old when he and his Italian born wife Wanda took up permanent residence in a ruined farmhouse in northern Italy. His account of the trials and tribulations that followed, the neighbors and the locality, is told in this wonderfully witty, readable and valuable book. Part of the value rests in the sociological and historical dimensions it gives. Even while he lived there, the customs, the occupations and the life styles were fast disappearing. If you enjoy this genre, youll want to give "A Small Place in Italy" a prominent place on your bookshelf.
Ive read: "Under the Tuscan Sun", "Extra Virgin ...", "An Italian Affair", "In Maremma: Life and a House in Southern Tuscany", "Italian Neighbors" and Im on my way to the library to pickup and start reading "Pasquales Note: Idle Days in an Italian Town". I started reading these types of books when I got lonely for Italy after visiting in November of 2001. I just finished "A Small Place in Italy". Each of these books have something special in it that I enjoyed reading about. I really enjoyed reading about the person Attilio. Attilio came with the house when they purchased this house in Italy -- he had his own secret room. I enjoyed reading about how they hired their local tradesmen to renovate and repair this house. I hope I never run out of these types of books to read, I do plan to return to visit Italy, it would be a joy to visit some of these small towns.
In 1967 Eric and Wanda Newby fulfilled a long-cherished dream when they bought a rundown farmhouse in northern Tuscany, in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Published for the first time in the US, a Small Place in Italy describes how the house was restored with the help of their neighbors, a colorful cast of characters who quickly befriended the Newbys
