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Title details for Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes - Available

Women in Sunlight

A Novel

by Frances Mayes
Kimberly Farr
Audiobook
3 of 3 copies available
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3 of 3 copies available
The story of four American strangers who bond in Italy and change their lives over the course of an exceptional year, from the bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun.
 
Don’t miss Frances Mayes in PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special!
She watches from her terrazza as the three American women carry their luggage into the stone villa down the hill. Who are they, and what brings them to this Tuscan village so far from home? An expat herself and with her own unfinished story, she can’t help but question: will they find what they came for?

Kit Raine, an American writer living in Tuscany, is working on a biography of her close friend, a complex woman who continues to cast a shadow on Kit’s own life. Her work is waylaid by the arrival of three women—Julia, Camille, and Susan—all of whom have launched a recent and spontaneous friendship that will uproot them completely and redirect their lives. Susan, the most adventurous of the three, has enticed them to subvert expectations of staid retirement by taking a lease on a big, beautiful house in Tuscany. Though novices in a foreign culture, their renewed sense of adventure imbues each of them with a bright sense of bravery, a gusto for life, and a fierce determination to thrive. But how? With Kit’s friendship and guidance, the three friends launch themselves into Italian life, pursuing passions long-forgotten—and with drastic and unforeseeable results.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 3, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780525526643
      • File size: 486546 KB
      • Duration: 16:53:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 26, 2018
      Even fans of Mayes’s Under the Tuscan Sun may have trouble with her latest, a trifle about three American women who impulsively rent a house in Tuscany for a year. They meet while touring a North Carolina retirement community: Camille, 69, and 64-year-old Susan are widows, and Julia is separated from her spouse at 59. Their new neighbors in San Rocco are expats—noted writer Kit and her longtime partner Colin have lived there for a decade. Not every day in Italy is halcyon, but it often feels that way: everyone becomes great friends and the women age like Benjamin Button. Even Kit, unable to have a baby and certainly not trying, gets pregnant. Camille, who was once a promising painter, experiences an artistic renaissance in scenes that are among the book’s most intriguing, but her instant success undercuts their power. Susan and Julia also forge innovative new careers. All the magical light that brightens Mayes’s Tuscany has the effect of canceling the shadows that might fall on her characters in a more realistic or layered story. The effect is a book that feels like a movie, but not an especially memorable one.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      When three women of a certain age meet on a tour of a North Carolina retirement village, where none of them wants to live, they form a deep bond and together make the surprising decision to rent a Tuscan villa. Narrator Kimberly Farr's lively performance adds a spark to this story of women's friendships and finding strength and happiness after loss. Her subtle Southern accents for the American women and deft Italian pronunciations help differentiate the characters and provide a sunny atmosphere for this empowering look at getting older. Warning: Farr's flowing, expressive delivery of author Mayes's loving descriptions of Tuscany's sights and smells, food and wine will have you planning your own Italian getaway, or at least a good home-cooked dinner with your closest friends. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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