Vanilla Beans and Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany

by IsabellaDusi (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $4.20

  When Isobel Dusi visited Italy with her Australian husband Lou, little did they imagine that life would change forever. But, utterly besotted with the fragrant warmth and good-natured conviviality of Southern Tuscany, they decided to sell up their lives in the big city and move thousands of miles to follow the dream of a life more in keeping with ancient rhythms and time-honoured traditions of the Mediterranean. After months of searching they settled upon Montalcino, an intriguing hilltop medieval village with a reputation for some of the finest wine in Italy. VANILLA BEANS AND BRODO is an account of Isobel's hard-won acceptance into this tempestuous, warm-hearted and proudly independent community, whose voluble passions for home grown wine and Tuscan cuisine, for football and ancient traditions and festivals, puts paid to the myth that life in rural Tuscany is tranquil. Isobel and Lou are gradually transformed into Isabella and Luigi in this charming account of Tuscan village life that really gets to the beating heart of an Italian community - its joys, pleasures, anxieties, but above all, its absorbing eccentricities.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $3.25

  Foreign writers living in Italy frequently treat the local people as an exotic species to provide amusing stories for their readers. Sipping cappuccino and supping pasta, rarely do they perceive what is going on around them, nor understand the complexity of life for today's Italians. Isabella Dusi, a native Australian, settled in Montalcino, a beautiful mountain eyrie famous for its wine and the proud nature of its inhabitants, five years ago. Her acceptance into this close-knit community was a hard-won thing and has inspired Isabella to capture the true spirit of Montalcino. Vanilla Beans and Brodo tells of the bloody history of this mediaeval village which has lefts its mark on the character traits of the Montalcinese, but also offers a rare insight into the anxiety, joy, fun and pressure of daily life as it unfolds with the seasons. An evocative story of the rivalry between village neighbourhoods, of football fever and festival pageantry, Isabella Dusi destroys the myth that Tuscan villages are tranquil places and instead reveals a life infinitely rich and full of dramas. This moving, often humorous journey will change forever the cliched image of Tuscany and bring real understanding of the fierce passion of today's Tuscans for their ancient village, their fertile land and their life in Montalcino.