Author Presentation: Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes
See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy

Northshire is thrilled to welcome Frances Mayes, the beloved author of Under the Tuscan Sun, to Manchester where she will present her enticing new book See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy, a sumptuous travel narrative that crisscrosses the country from the Dolomites to the tip of Sicily.

Cultural emissary of Italy, Frances Mayes has spent thirty years splitting her time between her native United States and adopted home in Tuscany and writing seven bestselling books about the region. In See You In the Piazza, she and her husband hit the road in their white Alfa Romeo to explore the country afresh from north to south–eating and drinking their way from Friuli to Sicily. Mayes seeks the very best local food, wine, culture, and history that Italy has to offer–and discovers countless unexpected charms along the way. Mayes conjures the enchantment of the backstreets, the hubbub of markets, and the dreamlike wonder of that space between lunch and dinner when a city invites us to wander its nooks and crannies or lose ourselves in the pages of a delicious book.

With vibrant descriptions, Mayes finds the Italy that is never obvious—little-known villages in Marche, a Trentino hideaway with no cars, a Sardinian island with hidden coves, and enchanting places in Tuscany that you’ve never heard of. She savors sbrisolona, the crumbly, nutty dessert of Emilia Romagna; succulent fish from the Catania market; regional cheeses; dark chocolates of Torino; and in every location, the brilliant local wines. As Mayes zigzags around the country, she visits each town’s artistic treasures—castles in Le Langhe, Puglia’s Romanesque rose windows, the palaces of Genoa, and the elegant baptistry of Parma. Mayes’s recommendations for everything from practical advice (pack light, how to navigate the Venetian Lagoon, how to locate the best farm stays) to the most genuine restaurants, frescoes, and duomos in each town are not to be missed. Her familiarity with and affection for Italy are transporting, celebrating and revealing the secrets that only someone who is on intimate terms with a place could find. And whether you’re a seasoned traveler to Italy or uninitiated, you’ll want to try the recipes from some of Mayes’s favorite chefs, relayed with mouth-watering detail along with practical advice for home cooks.

FRANCES MAYES is the author of seven books about Tuscany, including the now-classic Under the Tuscan Sun–which was a New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years. It was followed by Bella Tuscany and two illustrated books, In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home. She is also the author of two novels, six books of poetry, and The Discovery of Poetry. Her books have been translated into fifty-four languages.