A Year in the World

A Year in the World by Frances Mayes
Non-Fiction

A Year in the World is a traveloque. With her home in Tuscany as a home base,Frances Mayes travels to Portugal, England, Scotland, Turkey, Spain, France and southern Italy.

Mayes seems to love the different cultures she encounters. She rents homes and shops in the local markets. She tours the gardens in England and Scotland. She sails along the Turkey coast hiking to archaeological sites. She explores the Greek isles. Mayes provides information about art, architecture, food, and social traditions.

The traveloque part of the book was interesting. However I became quite irked when in a description of a cruise she goes on to describe a fat person in a white bathing suit entering the ship's pool as a whale. Since when does this constitute any part of a traveloque. It seems that the sight of fat people annoys Mayes as this was not the only instance in this book. My suggestion leave this bias at home or at least out of the book.

Further the title is a misnomer as this is a series of trips done over a span of years.

First Line: "The silhouette of Alghero rises from the Mediterranean."

Rating:
(3.0/5)