The narration was horrible. This was the first book I could not finish. I thought it would be a joy to have the author read her own book but not only was she very monotone, at times it felt like she had difficulty reading out her own words. Quite a few times I tuned her out and then decided that continuing on with be pointless.

Dif person reading for one was not interesting at all and could not follow. Very boring

Somewhat

Narrator should be different

No

no

Unfortunately, I would not. I was disappointed to find that the book was quite different than the movie. More than likely, I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it first, then watched the movie. I had expected to hear a "Diane Lane" type of voice...again, so different from the movie...I was very surprise when I heard the author narrate her book with her southern, twangy voice.

The story itself was an enjoyable look into Tuscany and into the authors life there even though I had an extremely difficult time getting past her accent.

Possibly, as long as she is not the narrator.

no

food descriptions were romantic and full of life

Mayes voice was not "listen"friendly...I had listened to an audio recording of this book years ago and fully enjoyed the performance. I purchased this version without listening to a clip of the audio. Surprised when I listened to find another person narrating.

It is not the story it is the voice of the narrator. Very droll and very hard to listen to.

I was looking forward to this book as I had heard so much about it.

Her mono tone southern accent put me off. I tried a couple of time to listen again, but terribly sorry I couldn't cope with her voice.

could listen to much so missed out on the book

No thanks for your time

I loved reading this book , I loved watching this book as a movie , I however dislike the voice of Frances Mayes. The content is wonderful, the story is inspiring , the VOICE IS grating. A more vocal lyrical reader would have transported me to Italy and sent me into raptures. Some writers are not meant to be readers. Keep to what you know best and that is writing and get someone with a voice to read your words. This was a terrible attempt, hence the other Frances Mayes books will be left un-listened, as I could not put my ears through another onslaught of Frances reading

I was so excited for this book but the narration is just AWFUL!!! Every professional should know her limitations. The author ruined her own sales of this audio book. Even if I could get past her southern accent, I couldn't bear another minute of her boring, monotone voice!!! I couldn't even listen past Chapter 3.

I really wish I had bothered to either read the reviews or listen to a snippet. What should be a very nice, relaxing book is awful. I can't get into the scenes she is describing because her voice ruins it. Buy the book, not the audio. Unless... someone reads enough of the bad reviews and re-records it. (Then give all of us poor schmucks that listened to the bad version a free upgrade.)

I wish I had read the reviews before I bought this book. I had seen the movie beforehand and loved it so I figured the book would be that much better. I was wrong!!

I could NOT listen to this book. Frances Mayes may be a wonderful cook, and she's not a bad writer, but she should get someone else to read her books. Her voice is very nasal and, if this is possible, an excited monotone. She's so excited about everything that it all becomes meaningless.