A YEAR IN THE WORLD
Journeys of a Passionate Traveller
by FRANCES MAYES
New softcover book, published 2006, 420
pages
At last - the long-awaited new travel memoir from the author
of the international bestsellers UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN and BELLA TUSCANY.
A YEAR IN THE WORLD is
classic Frances Mayes - a celebration of the allure of travel, of unexpected
pleasures found in unlikely places and a joyous sense of adventure and
discovery.
Both a passionate traveller and the
ideal travel companion, Mayes allows us to hitch a ride as she wanders off the
beaten track and discovers twelve new special places in the world. Using her
beloved Tuscany as a home base, she sets off to find hidden treasures in Spain
and Portugal, France, the British Isles, and the Mediterranean world of Turkey,
Greece, the south of Italy and North Africa. Along the way, she cooks up a storm
in Portugal, follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, revels in the
good life in Santorini and hunkers down in a stone house draped with
bougainvillea in Crete. In Turkey she sails the ancient coast, snorkels over
sunken Byzantine towns and hikes to ancient archeological sites. She takes a
literary pilgrimage in Burgundy and gathers ideas in the gardens of Scotland and
England. In Morocco, she explores the city of Fez, discovers the ideal place to
live in Mantova - and much, much more.
Weaving together the simple pleasures of
everyday life with fascinating insights into the history, culture and culinary
delights of her temporary homes in the world, this is travel writing at its
best.
About the author: Frances Mayes
From wikipedia:
Frances Mayes (born 1940) is an American university professor, poet, memoirist, essayist, and novelist.
Born in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and raised in south central Georgia, Mayes attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and obtained her BA from the University of Florida. In 1975 she earned her MA from San Francisco State University, where she eventually became Professor of Creative Writing, director of The Poetry Center, and chair of the Department of Creative Writing.
Mayes has published several works of poetry: Climbing Aconcagua (1977), Sunday in Another Country (1977),
After Such Pleasures (1979), The Arts of Fire (1982), Hours (1984), and
Ex Voto (1995). In 1996 she published the book Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in
Italy. Written in the same vein as a A Year in Provence by British author Peter Mayle, Mayes's book was a memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in rural Cortona in Tuscany, a region of Italy. It went to Number One on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for over two years. In 2003 the film Under the Tuscan Sun was released. Adapted to the screen by director Audrey Wells, the movie was loosely based on Mayes's book. In 1999, Mayes followed this literary success with another international bestseller,
Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy, and in 2000 with In Tuscany. Mayes's first novel,
Swan, was published in 2002.
Also a food-and-travel writer, Mayes is the editor of The Best American Travel Writing 2002 and the author of
A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller (2006), tales of her and her husband's travels.
Now writing full time, she and her poet husband divide their time between homes in Hillsborough, North Carolina and
Cortona, Italy.