A Small Place in Italy, Eric Newby
A Small Place in Italy, Eric Newby
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A Small Place in Italy

Author: Eric Newby

Narrator: Eric Newby

Abridged: 2 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Published: 02/23/2017

Synopsis

This book is a lush and beautiful memoir of a very special house and a superb recreation of a bygone era. In 1967, veteran travel writer Eric Newby and his heroic wife Wanda fulfiled their dream of a return to life in the Italian hills where they first met during World War II. But this fulfilment would not come easy. The dream materialised in the form of I Castagni ('The Chestnuts'), a small, decrepit farmhouse with no roof, an abandoned septic tank and its own indigenous wildlife reluctant to give up their home. But in the foothills of the Apuan Alps on the border of Liguria and Northern Tuscany, this ramshackle house would soon become a hub of love, friendship and activity. Whether recounting dangerous expeditions through Afghanistan or everyday life in a country house, Newby's talent shines through as one of the foremost writers of the comic travel genre. Full of Newby's sharp wit and good humour, ‘A Small Place’ in Italy returns, twenty years later, to the life of Newby's much-cherished classic, Love and War in the Apennines. It lovingly recounts the quickly disappearing lifestyle of the idiosyncratic locals, and the enduring friendships they forge, whether sharing in growing their first wine harvest as novices or frying poisonous mushrooms for a feast.

About Eric Newby

Eric Newby was born in London in 1919. During World War II, he served in the Special Boat Section and was captured. He married the girl who helped him to escape, and for the next 50 years she was at his side on many adventures. After the war, he worked in the fashion business and book publishing but travelled on a grand scale, sometimes as the Travel Editor for the Observer. He was made CBE and awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Guild of Travel Writers. He died in 2006.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Megan on July 13, 2011

The book starts off pretty slowly-- the first 100 pages really are about buying and renovating the house. The story picks up in the second half, with more interesting stories about their neighbors. The book could have used more editing. There are some really convoluted sentences, and the structure c......more

Goodreads review by jzthompson on April 28, 2017

The friend of mine who I borrow my Eric Newby books from said it best: 'The nice thing about Newby is there is no side to him.' This is a warm ramble through Eric and his wife Wanda's time in their ramshackle, Italian farm house. Odd as it may sound I feel like I know the Newbys at this point, and w......more

Goodreads review by Lois on May 20, 2020

3.5 stars A really lovely homage to the life that Eric Newby and his wife Wanda built for themselves in the Italian mountains! I read his memoir Love and War in the Apennines two years ago which was absolutely incredible. It's stayed in my mind all this time, so it was wonderful to read about these t......more

Goodreads review by Carmen on May 04, 2012

Enthralling, very entertaining, the story of a lifestyle that has bit the dust. Eric and his wife bought a small place in Tuscany. Several times a year they come over from England to live there. Doing so, they immerse themselves in the community, helped by the fact that his wife speaks fluent Italia......more

Goodreads review by Gordon on May 08, 2022

Probably not quite a five star but certainly a solid 4.5⭐️ A re-read after almost 40 years, and a very enjoyable experience it was, like meeting an old friend after many years. I’ve said it before that you can’t go far wrong with a good Eric Newby book, and this is no exception.......more

Quotes

'Newby is of course a travel writer of near genius – wonderfully dry in the narration of the tribulations which so often afflict him and Wanda, and splendidly precise on the nuts and bolts of things … Highly readable and dangerously liable to induce a craving for one's own patch of Italian paradise' Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph 'Newby is an incomparable, shrewd and witty travel writer … immensely enjoyable' John Mortimer, Mail on Sunday 'Eric Newby must rank as one of the foremost travel writers of our age. Among his skills lies the ability to carry the reader with him on the most varied of journeys … a sequel to his 1971 classic, ‘Love and War in the Apennines’… [Newby's] good humour, and his loving eye for a way of life now disappearing, makes it a sterling contribution to that very particular shelf of English literature, describing life as lived among the Italians' Hugh Carless, Guardian 'A jovial account of living in Tuscany' Literary Review '[Newby's] book is cheerful, informative and often very funny' Times Literary Supplement 'There is a deep respect for human personality here, and a wealth of information scrupulously and precisely retailed' Daily Telegraph 'Beautifully written. Full of wisdom, humour and humanity, Newby is touching on the poignancy of life, its fleeting pleasures and ultimate, inevitable loss … He is a perceptive interpreter of our dreams' Sunday Express 'Newby goes into satisfying detail about the people, the food and the landscape, and the house itself takes a central role in the book … by observing the details of his surroundings with clarity and understanding, he gives the reader a gentle picture of a pleasant Arcadia' Wanderlust

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