Il Bel Centro

A Year in the Beautiful Center

By: Michelle Damiani

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella

When Michelle Damiani dreamed of living in Italy, she imagined her family as it was in Virginia - her husband filling every moment with work, her teenage son experimenting with sarcasm, her daughter smiling at the scent of lilacs, her baby-cheeked son methodically clicking Legos together, and herself hovering over the happiness of them all - only surrounded by ancient cobblestone alleys and the sound of ringing Italian. What she didn't know was how Italy would work to change them all.

©2015 Michelle Damiani (P)2018 Tantor

Made me wish for that sort of a life

Interesting enough story, but at some point the endless luscious details and descriptions of food and wine started to overwhelm me. Also, the first 2/3 of the book seem to be the best. The last third of the book seem to veer off frequently into philosophical, theological and introspective discussions that got old pretty quick. I almost didn’t finish the last couple of hours. I would have appreciated and afterword where we might be told how the family adjusted upon their return to the United States. So in that way, it left me unsatisfied.

Per il sindaco ha parlato: è come pathos.

Sono un’americana che sogna di vívere in Italia ad un certo punto ancora. Mille grazie per la tua onestà nuda. Spello è magico. Proverò coraggiosa con parlare!

Fall in love with Spello

As a newly retired woman who has dreamed for decades of moving to Italy, this book cemented encouraged me further. From beginning to end the author seemed to aspire for a real depiction, and not to gloss over the hardships involved. It is obvious that the many rewards of living in Spello far outweighed the obstacles faced to make it happen. How each of the children responded was interesting and heartwarming. I loved that I listened to this book, and didn’t read it, because I learned a bit of beautiful Italian along the way.
I’m seriously considering listening from the beginning once again, and definitely plan to visit Spello on an upcoming trip to Italy. Who knows, we may find a Spello of our own!
Well written, and each day I couldn’t wait to hear more of this sweet family’s adventures.

Wonderful book

I loved this book and the narrator did a great job. What a warm and winsome story. I wish I had read/heard this book before we visited Spello.

Take me back to Italy

This book caused me to start dreaming again of living in Italy and truly taking my fluency to a higher level