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Dewey Decimal Number: 945.18 EAN: 9780694524075 Edition: Abridged Format: Abridged, Audiobook ISBN: 0694524077 Label: HarperAudio Manufacturer: HarperAudio Number Of Items: 4 Publication Date: January 01, 2001 Publisher: HarperAudio Release Date: January 09, 2001 Studio: HarperAudio Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: Fed up with cold, foggy London and the high cost of real estate, Annie Hawes is persuaded by her sister Lucy to travel to Italy and graft roses for the winter. The sisters arrive in rural Liguria with some formal Italian, no knowledge of rose grafting, and visions of Mediterranean men and sun. What they find is a town full of hard-working, wary olive growers smack in the middle of an olive oil depression who think these two young Englishwomen are nuts. Extra Virgin tells the story of the sisters' acclimation--theirs to Liguria and Liguria to them--and how they fell in love with a crumbling farmhouse in the hills. Annie quickly finds that though they are only two miles from the Italian Riviera, it might as well be a hundred. Liguria is an old town full of time-honored peculiarities, especially in regard to espresso consumption (never, ever, after lunch; it will close your stomach) and swimming before summertime officially starts. "Seawater at the wrong time of year is even worse for your health than coffee at the wrong time of day, and the beach is only deserted because, as far as the citizens are concerned, if you put so much as a toe into the water before June you are certain to die within the week from exposure or pneumonia or both," says Hawes. Eventually, the sisters are accepted by the townsfolk, though they find the idea of the women buying the farmhouse and running it themselves (there are 50 olive trees on the land) fantastical. Extra Virgin draws you in to the heart of Liguria and its inhabitants. Hawes has a knack for drawing characters and especially for describing the luscious meals that they are served--and eventually learn to cook. "Lucy and I are kindly allowed to make the tomato-and-basil salad," Hawes says, "and do our best not to be offended by being complemented on how like a proper tomato-and-basil salad it is." Pour yourself an espresso (as long as it's before lunch) or a grappa (aids the digestion), and then sit down to enjoy Extra Virgin. --Dana Van Nest Product Description: In 1983, a pale Annie Hawes and her equally pale sister leave England for the sun-drenched olive groves of a small Italian town in Liguria. With fantasies of handsome men and swimming in the sea urging them on, they sign up to graft roses -- something they know nothing about -- but they figure they can fake it for ten weeks. What they don't count on is falling in love with Italy--and with one old farmhouse in particular. Although they quickly realize that rugged Liguria is not gentle Tuscany, they cannot resist the charming little town. Annie, who has never wanted to settle down anywhere, doesn't want to leave. How will she find a way to make this old derelict farmhouse her own? What will the Ligurians think about their new neighbor with her strange ways staying on for good? For everyone who has ever wondered what happens when you fall in love with a certain house, on a certain hill, near a certain village -- Extra Virgin limns Annie Hawes' joyful romance with the enchantingly beautiful Italian Riviera. Read by Miram Margolyes Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A Year in LigureThis is a delightful tale of time spent in place and time near but far away from the stilish and popular Cotta Azura. I know this area well from time spent rebuilding the Italian Steel Industry in Cornigliano under the Marshall Plan. The author has a keen eye and ear for detail. Rating: - A Wonderful BookOn a wet, cold, typically gloomy day in England in 1983, Annie Hawes (broke and out of work) and her sister Lucy (bored and lusting for adventure) decide that enough is enough. Clutching a job description offering ten weeks work grafting roses on the Italian Riviera, room and board included, Lucy assures Annie that they can lie their way into the job and fake their way through it. Off they go to San Pietro, Liguria, quaint, sun-kissed village on the Mediterranean to live among the hankie-heads (men's ... Read More Rating: - Living as an ItalianI have read a number of Italy travelogues, from folks who are just traveling through to expats and those who choose to live there part time. The most enjoyable aspect of this book is that the author choses to focus on the people who live there. Most of the other books on this topic that I've read are rather ego-centric and reveal more on the topic of their authors than on the country or its people. But this book is centered on the stories of the Italians whose community she has joined and whose customs ... Read More Rating: - Wonderful!!!Annie Hawes has a wonderfully detailed and descriptive style of writing therefore this was not a story that could be breezed through but rather something to be read slowly and deliberately, savoring every word. She gave a realistic and honest view of life in the Italian countryside which this Italian-American found to be very enlighting! Rating: - A wonderful readDelightful voice, funny anecdotes, cleverly written. You will find yourself chuckling out loud more than once. |
