Sunday, May 24, 2009

Feel Good Movies for Women Over 40: Under the Tuscan Sun

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

So after encountering the book at a thrift store for the THIRD time, I finally bought the book. One week prior I had said to myself, this book has made people move in droves to Italy and renovate old tumbling down properties...if I ever see another copy of the book, I'll buy it because it's probably quite different to the movie...I bet!

And boy, was I right! Though it's considerably different in plot and feel to the movie with Diane Lane, for starters, the main character is married and has a grown-up daughter, it was still a great read and makes me wish I had spent longer in Tuscany when I had visited Italy some years back...

The glorious movie was of course a feast for the eyes and the soul...

She goes to Italy on a tour and falls in love with a house in Tuscany. She teams up with a trusty Realtor who gives her courage as well as his expertise...
She makes a new life and new friends...
She finds that the locals are extremely helpful, including this stunning young policeman, more than eager to help her....aaaaaaaah, only in the movies...
and here she is with her lover, who turns out to be a cad and skips out on her as she was busy renovating her new home...or did he just return to an existing lover? They're looking up at her now! I guess he didn't want to live at the huge villa with her?
she fixes a villa with the help of three able-bodied and hard-working Polish guest workers...afterall, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...
and finally holds the wedding of two young lovers at her villa... gorgeous saffron dress with red belt!

the gardens of Bramasole after all of the hard work and tending done by owners, the authoress Frances Mayes and her husband Ed...
"Bramasole" the villa as it stands, renovated, and much visited and photographed...
another villa in Tuscany...gorgeous...gorgeous...
sunflowers in Tuscany and a glorious sunset...


2 comments:

Rebekah said...

The book is fabulous! I am only 60 pages in, but already feel inspired to renovate no matter where I call home...

Sonya said...

yes, very different to the movie but fun to read - I also found the next book in the series, the title escapes me(I've lent it out to friend!) and enjoyed that one as well...