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The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places.

A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs.

With her beloved Tuscany as a home base, Mayes travels to Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, and to the Mediterranean world of Turkey, Greece, the South of Italy, and North Africa. In Andalucía, she relishes the intersection of cultures. She cooks in Portugal, gathers ideas in the gardens of England and Scotland, takes a literary pilgrimage to Burgundy, discovers an ideal place to live in Mantova, and explores the essential Moroccan city of Fez. She rents houses among ordinary residents, shops at neighborhood markets, wanders the back streets, and everywhere contemplates the concept of home. While in Greece, she follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, lives in a bougainvillea-draped stone house in Crete, and then drives deep into the Mani. In Turkey with friends, she sails the ancient coast, hiking to archaeological sites and snorkeling over sunken Byzantine towns. Weaving together personal perceptions and informed commentary on art, architecture, history, landscape, and social and culinary traditions of each area, Mayes brings the immediacy of life in her temporary homes to the reader. An illuminating and passionate book that will be savored by all who loved Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in the World is travel writing at its peak.

Average Customer Rating:

This book was not edited!

Customer Rating:

Frances Mayes has had so much success as a writer. No doubt she never dreamed that her adventures in Tuscany would bring her best-selling books and a film based on the first book. That must have been very exciting and gratifying--beyond words. We all can't wait to read what she has to say next. I think that's why there is so much disappointment about this book. I mean why is it that once a writer had so much success the editors no longer cut as much as they should? She is so full of herself in this book, whereas in her other books her writing was delicate and poetic. It's not to say that this book doesn't have it's moments. In fact, I am inspired by some of her perceptions of her destinations and many of them are similar to ours. But some of her perceptions are way over the top. That last chapter is some sort of fantasy that, frankly, I wish she had kept to herself! Her inflated self-image needs to calm down a bit.

Napoli ???????	Customer Rating:
Which Napoli is she talking about? It sounds ideal compared to the real one - no problems with garbage, no rioting in the streets and at the docks, no mafia stranglehold on the government - where is this Napoli?

I liked it	Customer Rating:
I really liked this book only because I just came back from a trip to Spain, Portugal and Scotland and shared many of France's opinions and observations. I can see where others would be annoyed by her flowerly language and occasional overblown descriptions. I'm buying this to keep (the copy I originally read was borrowed from the library) just to remind me of my latest vacation!

Great Book

Customer Rating:

I just finished this book and loved it, I don't really understand the bad reviews. One I read said she didn't think Mayes's heart was in it. Unbelieveable! It makes me wonder if she really read the book. Mayes' "heart", her heartfelt impressions of the places she visited, ran throughout the book. I strongly recommend this book if you love to read about travels and particularly if you like the way Mayes writes.

Misleading title...

Customer Rating:

I'm sorry, but this book was ultra boring. I couldn't muster up enough energy or interest to even finish it. I myself, suffer from wanderlust. My extensive travels have taken me to some of the same locales as Mayes, so I was looking forward to reading about them from her perspective. However, I'm a writer myself--and while I haven't published a book about my travels I do keep a popular travel blog and write editorials for my local papers upon my return. But, trust me I've written more interesting narratives on a postcard home to my family than Mayes manages to do in 20+ pages. My advice--skip the book, and opt for a nice program on the Travel Channel instead. I guarantee it will be more fascinating and informative and you get the pleasure of avoiding Mayes's pretentious ramblings.