Have you ever dreamed of life in Italy? Many people, such as Francis Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun, have left their home countries to find a new life in Italy. In these books, expats tell about their experiences and adventures. You can experience living in Italy through their eyes.
1. Vanilla Beans and Brodo
Vanilla Beans and Brodo, Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany, is written by Isabella Dusi, an Australian who moved to a wine-producing village in Tuscany. She writes about the traditions, history, and people of the village giving the reader a good insight into the everyday workings of the village within the walls.
2. The Hills of Tuscany
The Hills of Tuscany, A New Life in an Old Land, details an amusing search for the perfect house and their adjustment to life in their perfect Tuscan farmhouse.3. Under the Tuscan Sun
The famous book about Tuscany is much better than the movie. Frances Mayes buys a crumbling 17-room villa in the Italian countryside. The book tells about restoring the villa.4. A Thousand Days in Venice
A woman from the US travels to Venice, falls in love with a Venetian, and moves to Venice. She gives great descriptions of life in Venice.5. Italian Neighbors
In Italian Neighbors Or a Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona, Tim Parks writes entertainingly about his town near Verona, Italy where he has lived for many years.6. A Small Place in Italy
Travel writer Eric Newby hid out in the hills of the Lunigiana region of Northern Tuscany during World War II. After the war, he returns and marries a woman he met during that time. In the 1960's they buy a buy and fix up an old palazzo.7. Pasquale's Nose
Pasquale's Nose, Idle Days in an Italian Town, is the humorous story of a New York City lawyer who moves to a small Etruscan village with his wife and baby, and discovers a community of eccentrics.8. A Tuscan Childhood
Kinta Beevor's interesting memoir chronicles the days she and her parents spent in a huge, dilapidated castle in northern Tuscany's Lunigiana region after the First World War. When Kinta returned as an old woman, she found tragic changes, but she also rediscovered the spirit and resilience of the Italian peasantry.9. Images and Shadows
Iris Origo, a rich British woman, bought La Foce, an entire valley in the Val d'Orcia of Tuscany in 1923. She lived there with her husband for 50 years and her book gives a great account of her experiences and Italian country life during that period.10. A Valley in Italy
A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria, tells about author Lisa St. Aubin de Teran's year spent restoring a magnificent villa hidden in the Umbrian hills.