Writing in the genre of those who have departed for a better life,
Mate can afford to be a little smug. But it seems that at least he
deserves to be. His life up until his retreat to the Tuscan hills
was an interminable catalogue of adventure, starting with an escape
from Hungary to Austria 30 years ago, and taking in occupations
including boatbuilder, deckhand and member of a railroad gang - not
to mention a voyage through the Guatemalan jungle during that
country's civil war in a broken-down camper van. It is these
details and flashbacks which spice up what might otherwise be an
unremarkable tale of resettlement and recreation. The tale begins
when, on holiday in Tuscany, Mate's painter wife Candace complains
that she is sick of moving from place to place - a remark which
plants the seeds of an idea of permanance in the author's head. He
spends the next year, 'walled-in' in New York, planning their
escape, and here retells the ensuing stages of the next great
adventure. It's not all narrative, though: there's a fine evocation
of Tuscan ambience ('the air trembles with the shrill of a cicada
who must have mistaken a shadow for the night') and the snapshots
of characters who people the hills and villages couldn't be any
odder or more vivid in real life. One wonders, though, whether M at
e will be content to live 'piano, piano, con calma' for long.
(Kirkus UK)
A mouth-wateringly evocative memoir of a new life in Tuscany.
Ferenc Mate and his painter wife Candace arrived from New York in
the late 1980s, knowing almost no Italian and with only four weeks
to find themselves a new home. After many (hilariously told)
mishaps, they finally conclude the deal for their perfect house -
an ancient farmhouse in the Tuscan hills - by drawing on the hood
of a rusty tractor. Mate brings the real Tuscany to life: the
neighbours, the countryside, country-life, the family farm down the
road who virtually adopt them and teach them the Tuscan traditions
of grape-picking, wine-making, mushroom hunting, woodcutting, the
holidays and, of course, the almost never-ending, mouth-watering
feasts. The Hills of Tuscany is a classic piece of rural escapism
for urban dreamers. Witty and enticingly written, it offers a
tempting invitation to readers to lose themselves in its lushness.
Steeped in the mesmerizing Italian landscape, full of unforgettable
characters, this book is an affirmation of traditions, friendship
and the countryside - a celebration of life itself.
General
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