{"product_id":"bella-tuscany-the-sweet-life-in-italy-by-frances-mayes-1999-hcdj-very-good","title":"Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy by Frances Mayes (1999) HCDJ VERY GOOD","description":"\u003cp\u003eHardcover with DJ in Very Good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e bestseller \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnder the Tuscan Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food there and throughout Italy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHappiness? The color of it must be spring green, impossible to describe until I see a just-hatched lizard sunning on a stone. That color, the glowing green lizard skin, repeats in every new leaf. The regenerative power of nature explodes in every weed, stalk, branch. Working in the mild sun, I feel the green fuse of my body, too. Surges of energy, kaleidoscopic sunlight through the leaves, the soft breeze that makes me want to say the word \"zephyr\"--this mindless simplicity can be called happiness.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHaving spent her summers in Tuscany for the past several years, Frances Mayes relished the opportunity to experience the pleasures of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eprimavera\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, an Italian spring. A sabbatical from teaching in San Francisco allowed her to return to Cortona--and her beloved house, Bramasole--just as the first green appeared on the rocky hillsides.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBella Tusancy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, a companion volume to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnder the Tuscan Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, is her passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreakfas of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives Bramasole's lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFilled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBella Tuscany\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ex Libris Used Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49435305574627,"sku":"EXL002625","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/5675\/7951\/files\/PXL_20260721_222339873.jpg?v=1784672685","url":"https:\/\/www.exlibrismichigan.com\/products\/bella-tuscany-the-sweet-life-in-italy-by-frances-mayes-1999-hcdj-very-good","provider":"Ex Libris Used Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}