• Every Day in Tuscany

  • Seasons of an Italian Life
  • By: Frances Mayes
  • Narrated by: Frances Mayes
  • Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (77 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Every Day in Tuscany  By  cover art

Every Day in Tuscany

By: Frances Mayes
Narrated by: Frances Mayes
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In this sequel to her New York Times best sellers Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany, the celebrated "bard of Tuscany" (New York Times) lyrically chronicles her continuing, two decades-long love affair with Tuscany's people, art, cuisine, and lifestyle.

Frances Mayes offers her listeners a deeply personal memoir of her present-day life in Tuscany, encompassing both the changes she has experienced since Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany appeared, and sensuous, evocative reflections on the timeless beauty and vivid pleasures of Italian life. Among the themes Mayes explores are how her experience of Tuscany dramatically expanded when she renovated and became a part-time resident of a 13th century house with a stone roof in the mountains above Cortona, how life in the mountains introduced her to a "wilder" side of Tuscany - and with it a lively engagement with Tuscany's mountain people. Throughout, she reveals the concrete joys of life in her adopted hill town, with particular attention to life in the piazza, the art of Luca Signorelli (Renaissance painter from Cortona), and the pastoral pleasures of feasting from her garden.

Moving always toward a deeper engagement, Mayes writes of Tuscan icons that have become for her storehouses of memory, of crucible moments from which bigger ideas emerged, and of the writing life she has enjoyed in the room where Under the Tuscan Sun began. With more on the pleasures of life at Bramasole, the delights and challenges of living in Italy day-to-day and favorite recipes, Every Day in Tuscany is a passionate and inviting account of the richness and complexity of Italian life.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2010 Frances Mayes (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"If the parade of art, food, elemental landscape and abiding camaraderie gives the reader a case of eye-ache and envy, the author can only be admired for having worked hard to earn the life and for celebrating it with such genuine relish. Mayes the sensualist in full bloom." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Mayes is generous with her thoughts, and her evocative writing simply oozes charm and warmth. In these times, this quick read is a thoroughly enjoyable way to visit Italy without once considering the heartbreaking dollar-to-euro conversion rate." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Every Day in Tuscany

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    29
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    28
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Travelers Guide

If you are planning a trip to Italy you may fnind this book helpful. If you are looking for another wonderful Frances Mayes story about her life in Tuscany, this may dissapoint. She talks about her friends and the wonderful food and wine, but the chapters are only losely tied together.
I am having trouble getting the pdf dowload file from Audible. It would be fun to have the recipies to try.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Informative on Italian Art and Cooking, but.......

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

If I had been interested in Italian cooking and/or someone's personal opinion of Italian art I would have loved this book. I'm sure I did learn something from this, but I had hoped for a good story set in Italy. This book is written like a diary or a day to day account of events with no plot. I believe Frances Mayes is a very intelligent woman with lots of energy and a lust for life, but her narration is almost unbearable. Her voice is unpleasant and her pronunciation of Italian words is irritating. She seems bored and disconnected when reading the book. It was hard to keep listening.

Would you ever listen to anything by Frances Mayes again?

Probably not.

Would you be willing to try another one of Frances Mayes’s performances?

No

Could you see Every Day in Tuscany being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No! Well, maybe a TV cooking show.

Any additional comments?

I really wanted to like the book because I am going to Italy soon, but it was so hard to finish listening to it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars

Not the normal

I usually enjoy her stories, this one put me to sleep while driving. Couldn't finish it (and I was a fine art major.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not so pleasant narration

Would you try another book from Frances Mayes and/or Frances Mayes?

I love Frances Mayes books, however after this book on audible I decided not to hold back on downloading another book narrated by Frances Mayes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Everyday in Tuscany

I love every one of Frances Mayes' books. When one comes out, I read it right away. She writes and I am transported to Italy. However, in this Audio book, she should have hired a professional to read her words. Her voice is rigid and flat with no variation in tone. In my opinion, her voice detracts from the whole experience. I knew she was from the South, so that is not it.
Italy is a country of passion and emotion, and there is none of that passion, excitement, and humor in her reading. I'm just so disappointed. I should have read the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

very disappointed

What did you like best about Every Day in Tuscany? What did you like least?

I have read the book and enjoyed it and was looking forward to listening to it at leisure. However after a couple of chapters I had to give up. How somebody who had spent considerable time in italy during the past 20 years could have such terrible pronunciation is beyoud me. It became irritating.

Would you be willing to try another book from Frances Mayes? Why or why not?

Yes, provided no Italian was involved.

Would you be willing to try another one of Frances Mayes’s performances?

Possibly.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Must be more careful in the future. Even if it is a good storey the narrator can kill it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

pleasant

It was enjoyable to be drawnito Mrs. Mayes life I Italy. She does bring it to life with her passion for the place and people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I Wish

I wish Ms. Mayes would hire a professional reader. The twang in her voice, and Italy, just don’t work together. They just don’t. Despite numerous attempts to listen to this book, I haven’t gotten far into it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Please have someone else read this book!

This book seems like a hodgepodge of notes bound together without any direction. It has no purpose. I so enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun. I can’t stand this one. Frances’ voice kills what’s left of my dream. Please fix it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I use Audible as my way of reading as I love the voices and the readers pronunciation of words I dare not attempt. In reading this book it says to get the pdf of the recipes however I guess I miss out on the recipes by listening. It’s to bad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!