Funny, sad, warm travel through buying a home and living the rural life in Italy. ( )

I suspect that this will be my favorite re-reading book from this author.

The title made me a little cautious as I have read some of the sometimes rather twee books about someone buying a wreck in Tuscany and converting it to a charming rose-covered cottage. In essence though, this is precisely what Eric and the ever indomitable Wanda did – however, the actual book also turns out to be charming.

Interlaced with recalls of Eric’s wartime experiences in the region – he was sheltered by many of the characters in the book and region when on the run as an escaped POW, (Love and War in the Apennines) the work includes many of the author's wonderful descriptions and flashes of pure wit. Wanda, as usual, plows through the expected difficulties that arise from realizing their joint dream of resurrecting (as the building required far more than remodeling!) an ancient farm and creating a home for both themselves and a somehow acquired resident friend and local guide. There are several instances when poor Eric get the reminder many of us married men need from time to time - that no man is a hero to his wife or secretary!

The sadness described in the final chapter his other work On the Shores of the Mediterranean of about eventually having to part with I Castagni, the farm, becomes readily explained in this adventurous and engaging yarn.