The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria | 
 enlarge | Author: Marlena De Blasi
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 26741
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 317
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 1565124731
Dewey Decimal Number: 945.652
EAN: 9781565124738
ASIN: 1565124731
Publication Date: December 21, 2006
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Product Description
With the breathless anticipation that seduced her readers to fall in love with Venice and then Tuscany, Marlena de Blasi now takes us on a new journey as she moves with her husband, Fernando, to Orvieto, a large and ancient city in Italy's Umbria. Having neither an edge to a sea nor a face to a foreign land, it's a region less trampled by travelers and, in turn, less accepting of strangers. So de Blasi sets out to establish her niche in this new place and to win over her new neighbors by doing what she does best, cooking her way into their hearts. (Her recipes are included.)
Rich with history and a vivid sense of place, her memoir is by turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, as she searches for the right balance in this city on the hill, as well as the right home—which turns out to be the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo.
De Blasi meets and makes friends with an array of colorful, memorable characters, including cooks and counts and shepherds and a lone violinist, and their stories, too, become a part of the tapestry of life that she weaves for herself in Orvieto. With a voice full of wonder, she brings to life these engagingly quirky people and the aloof, almost daunting society that exists in Umbria. Not since Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence has a writer so happily succeeded in capturing the essence of a singular place and in creating a feast for readers of all stripes.
Book Description
Touching and humorous, Marlena de Blasi’s account of moving with her husband, Fernando, to Orvieto, the largest city in Italy’s Umbria, is a story that will appeal to anyone who delights in travel and shares the fantasy of beginning a new life in a very different place. By turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, it is a tale of the couple’s search for the right home—which turns out to be the former ballroom of a fifteenth-century palazzo—and for the right balance in their lives, in this case making friends of cooks, counts, shepherds, and a lone violinist. It is a tale, too, of an American woman finding her niche in a society bound by tradition and seemingly closed to outsiders. With a voice full of wonder, de Blasi brings to life these engagingly quirky people and the aloof, almost daunting society that exists in Umbria. Not since Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence has a writer so happily succeeded in capturing the essence of a singular place and creating a feast for readers of all stripes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Minority Opinion November 15, 2008
I bought this book last month (October 2008), while on my 5th visit to Orvieto. I was hoping for an insightful portrait of Orvieto, a place for which I have enormous regard. Unfortunately, this book is primarily about Ms. De Blasi, not about Orvieto. I find her writing style to be self-consciously florid, almost equivalent to "reading" a Thomas Kinkade painting. I also found somewhat disconcerting her assumption that the reader (I!) should know of her past, i.e., that I should have read her previous books. I also don't care for her somewhat sophomoric philosophizing. I should admit: I am not a fan of this genre, but at least Peter Mayles had a certain ability to evoke a sense of place without making himself the center of the story.
 Mediocre writing, but a solid story about Umbria nontheless August 4, 2008
When I travel, I enjoy reading novels about the place I'm going to - it adds an extra dimension to all of the new sights and cities. To this end The Lady in the Palazzo was a good book to read about Umbria, with lots of fun anecdotes about the towns and culture of the region. However the writing is run-of-the-mill and at times awkward. For example, in the middle of the book two chapters are devoted to the back stories of the novel's supporting characters. While flashbacks like this can be an interesting literary device, these chapters seemed like they were just randomly and clumsily pasted into the middle of the novel. What's more, the books finale seemed like it was more for the author's benefit than for the readers (I won't spoil it).
 The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria December 28, 2007
A fabulously well written story of their continuing adventures of living in Italy. Her observations of the idiocyncracies of the villages of Tuscany and Umbria are close to the mark and full of humor and "stranger in a strange land" frustration and successes.It is as lovely as her first book about Venice and meeting Fernando, and the recipes are the next thing I will want to try. Marlena gets better and better.
disappointed December 21, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read 1000 Days in Tuscany and found it lovely. This, I thought, was a bore. It felt as though she was just fulfilling the obligation of a trilogy and had to come up with something. Yes, her writing is gorgeous, but she writes of the mundane..no matter it is Umbria.
A Wonderful Book! October 14, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Marlena de Blasi's writing just gets better and better. I loved her first two books but found this latest one the best yet. Marlena's beautiful soul really shines through in her uncontrollable need to befriend, nurture and "feed" people in her new home. Francisco still tries to hold her back and keep her within the cultural norms of Italy, but they both seem to have mellowed. Ms. De Blasi portrays wonderful characters and manages to relate something quite profound in the simple tale of finding a new home in Oriveto.
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