Explore A Valley In Italy Compiled And Edited By Lisa St. Aubin De Terán Available In Paper Copy

is probably the most pretentious, irritating book I have ever encountered, The author's "style" is coy and over the top, and her portrayal of Italians is condescending and patronizing, It was hard to believe anything but the bare bones of this story, This book reminded me of little women in that its very warm and comforting and you just get to see part of someones life.
The middle dragged on a bit but the ending was very cute and i loved how much character everyone and the village had.
"Of all the romantic obsessions in novelist Lisa St, Aubin de Teran's life, the search for a castle occupied her the longest until she saw the magnificent Villa Orsola deep in the Umbrian hills.
Only after eagerly signing the ownership papers did she and her husband,l painter Robbie DuffScott, discover that they were the owners of a vast ruin lacking windowpanes, parts of the roof, and other essentials.
A Valley in Italy recounts the restoration in the grand style of an impossible house and the charms of bohemian family life.
It also offers a rare portrait of the life of an Italian village where 'all things are made to be as enjoyable as possible.
' Lisa St. Aubin de Teran's intuitive sense of place, her affection for the people around her, and her appreciation of native Italian grace make this a memorable book that can stand beside the best accounts of Italian life.
"
back cover

This was an offputting book for me, Lisa St. Aubin de Teran is certainly bohemian, and this book is a very accurate account of a scatterbrained bohemian life, Snowy freezing winter in a castle with no windows, A daughter she calls "the child" who has obviously been raised by a scatterbrained bohemian, All these disorganized facets of their lives rather overshadowed the descriptions of the Umbrian countryside, the town of Orsola, or the Orsolan people.
Seen through bohemian eyes, these things became just a backdrop for the havoc and peregrinations of this gypsylike family, I thought that was a shame, Sort of, mostly believable slightly cringey at times does she really let her teenage daughter get away with

all that But there were definitely humorous aspects to the story and a glimpse into rural Italian life.
Good for an easy holiday read, I think, Such an odd book the writing is not bad, and the depictions of Italy are interesting, but she and her family aside from her young son come off as truly horrid, privileged, obnoxious people.
Maybe she thinks it's cute, It's not. Don't waste your time on this one, Of all the romantic obsessions in novelist Lisa St Aubin de Teran's life, the search for a castle occupied her the longestuntil she saw the magnificent Villa Orsola deep in the Umbrian hills.
Only after eagerly signing the ownership papers did she and her husband, painter Robbie DuffScott, discover they were the owners of a vast ruin lacking windowpanes, parts of the roof, and other essentials.
A Valley in Italy recounts its restoration in the grand style of impossible house and the charms of bohemian family life.
It also offers a rare portrait of the life of a, Italian village, where "all things are made to be as enjoyable as possible, " " Lisa St Aubin de Teran's intuitive sense of place, her affection for the people around her, and her appreciation for native Italian grace make this a memorable book that can stand beside the best accounts of Italian life.
Easy, light fare, but enjoyable descriptions of country living in Umbria, humorous portraits of village life and sensitive cultural observations, Fun and well written. The description of the first night in the villa, with scents from the mountains coming in the open windows was especially memorable.
In another memoir, Memory Maps, Lisa St Aubin de Teran says that on her "father's side I am a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Carib Indian, African, Brazilian, Venezuelan, Scottish, West Indian and German, while on my mother's side, I am a mixture of Jersey, English, Irish and French.
"
This mix has always fascinated me and made me feel somewhat cheated with my own boring bloodline, It has at least got to give you something to write about,
This book sees her following in the well furrowed genre of 'I / we bought a house abroad', only this time it's a ruined palazzo in Umbria where eccentric and colourful locals do what they're meant to do and dot the pages.
I do quite enjoy these sort of books but what I would really like to know is how she/they pay for it.
Throughout the book she is complaining about their financial plight yet seems to be employing the whole village to do the place up as well as two 'Beauties' who apparently are nannies, but do nothing but attend discos and attract the local males,on top of which her husband is a painter so we know there's no money coming from that side!
OK I'm quibbling.
. . I quite liked it . it's a quick read. What a charming companion to have while trying to get work done on a collapsing castle, I loved her voice and her dry humor, I've lent my copy to so many, I finally lost possession of it, A wonderful, sunny story about a crazy desire to rehabilitate an estate in Italy,
I really didn't like it, The style, the boasting, the overthetop tales, the superiority it radiated, I couldn't believe the story, the situations, . . This was mostly interesting because we are planning a trip to a nearby valley in Italy, Interesting author, I may pick up one of her novels,
A fascinating look at how some families operate, I enjoyed reading about the nonchalant way they embarked upon this home but I found the views of the local Italians rather patronizing.
A good airplane book though, I am a huge fan of Italian culture, I found this book in our bookshelf, where it was most likely left after our recent family trip to Italy, The entirety of my reading experience was spent rolling my eyes at the author, her style, and her family, I found it incredibly irritating how the author constantly referred to her daughter as "the child Isuelt" and the livein nannies as "the Beauties".
I am a stickler for wording, and that drove me nuts, The town itself and its inhabitants were endearingthey reminded me of my father's home town in Tuscany, Overall, a good beach/plane ride book, nothing to cherish forever,,sterren Nederlandse paperback

Naar dependance Roberts kruidentuin Eccentric, artistic and with more money than sense, Lisa St. Aubin and her family are true bohemians, I wouldn't want to live with these people but it was lovely to visit with them as they traipsed all over Italy searching for their dream home, and to watch as they made it a reality, and became part of the local scene in a remote Umbrian village.
p The life and culture of an Italian village, The family buys an old villa and fixing it up draws in the town folks, i found the author and her family to be irritating and endearing at the same time, not a huge fan of her writing style but it is still an enjoyable read that leaves you scratching your head.
I liked the descriptions of Italy and the locals but her family is very strange, This had been sitting on one of my shelves for years and I finally got around to reading it, An ok telling of a privileged expatriate family living in Italy, but pretentiously told, Who refers to her daughter as "the child Iseult" and her young nannies as "the Beauties" Much better than thest book I read by this writer.

Situated in the country side of Italy,
Although I live in a totally different area of Italy, very recognizable and sometimes pleasant to read,
Memoir of restoring a very old, decrepit villa in Umbria, Nice descriptions of the village and surrounding countryside, But what an ordeal they went through, I don't think I could have done it, Amusant, maar af en toe ook irritant zelfgenoegzaam verslag over de restauratie van een totaal verkrot palazzo in Umbrië, Maar goed, uit de kringloopwinkel, en zijn euro zeker waard! Ok, so everyone knows my penchant for reading books about people who fix up houses.
I am obsessed, and well, when it's a house in Italy, hold me back, people! This book is about a British family living in Venice who move to Umbria and buy a huge wreck of a villa.
They emply townspeople to fix it up and slowly work their way into the fabric of the village of Orsola, It's amazing to me what people will put up with to live in a place they love and I'm so inspired by stories like this one.
I also wonder how these people have an infinite pot of money to shovel into homes like this, but whatever, I'll keep it romantic and not think about the scorpions that live in Italy either : It was recommended by snailbones.
It's set in Umbria, part of the old papal states, It's a completely different take on the remodeling stories, The scenes of village life seemed very authentic, The author had a different approach to remodeling too she stayed through the whole thing so readers got more details about the actual hardships.
I enjoyed it
Lisa St, Aubin de Terán was born Lisa Rynveld in South London, She attended the James Allens Girls School, She married a Venezuelan landowner, Jaime Terán in, at the age of, and became a farmer of sugar cane, avocados, pears, and sheep from.
Her second husband was the Scottish poet and novelist George MacBeth, After the marriage failed, she married painter Robbie Duff Scott and moved to Umbria, Italy, In, St. Aubin de Terán published her first novel, Keepers of the House, This novel was the recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award, Her second novel, The Slow Train to Milan, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, She received the Eric Gregory for Poetry in, Her work includes novels, memoirs, poetry, and short story col Lisa St, Aubin de Terán was born Lisa Rynveld in South London, She attended the James Allen's Girls' School, She married a Venezuelan landowner, Jaime Terán in, at the age of, and became a farmer of sugar cane, avocados, pears, and sheep from.
Her second husband was the Scottish poet and novelist George MacBeth, After the marriage failed, she married painter Robbie Duff Scott and moved to Umbria, Italy, In, St. Aubin de Terán published her first novel, Keepers of the House, This novel was the recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award, Her second novel, The Slow Train to Milan, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, She received the Eric Gregory for Poetry in, Her work includes novels, memoirs, poetry, and short story collections, St. Aubin de Terán has three children, including a daughter by her first husband, Iseult Teran, who is also a novelist.
She currently lives in Amsterdam with her partner Mees Van Deth, where she runs a film company and has set up the Terán Foundation in Mozambique.
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