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160th out of 767 books
—
1,213 voters
Extra Virgin
by
Annie Hawes
In 1983, a pale Annie Hawes and her equally pale sister leave England for the sun-drenched olive groves of a small Italian town in Liguria. With fantasies of handsome tanned men and swimming in the sea urging them on, they are hired to work for ten weeks to graft roses -- of which they have little knowledge -- along the Italian Riviera, board and lodging included.But none...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
April 26th 2001
by Penguin Books, Limited (UK)
(first published January 1st 2001)
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Fascinating memoir. The sometimes maddening characters have become the English author's adopted Ligurian family. The locals overflow with pride and prejudice, but accept Annie and her sister and their visiting friends, take them under their wing, explaining, teaching, showing, sharing...always looking out for these apparently clueless, helpless women who are at the same time strong and determined. Although the local men are baffled and upset by the English sisters' strange foreign ways, they are...more
Perhaps this book is a little generic but since it's in a genre I've never read I enjoyed it. It's an account of the author's first year in the Italian province of Liguria. She goes out there from England with her sister in order to work for a while and ends up buying a tumbledown cottage in a hillside olive grove and staying where no decent Italian would dream of living at the time. The book's honest about the fact that it's not all happening in one year; mostly it's the first year they are the
...more
Jul 09, 2008
Maria
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those with a travel bug
Shelves:
worth-keeping
Despite my slight embarrassment at the title, I bought this book in a uk airport for the trip home and was instantly drawn in. I had just returned from a month long trip to Italy so I had no problems recalling the images of Cinque Terra. Similar, but superior, to Under the Tuscan Sun. A foreign woman buys a broken down place in Italy. The book focuses mainly on her (and her sister's) plight to assimilate (from how much coffee and wine they consume to how to get a haggard vespa up a rocky hill)....more
I’ve been reading memoirs attentively for the past 10 years. I don’t give many five-star reviews, but “Extra Virgin” will be one of them. This delightful story is now among my favorites.
This is the story of Annie and Lucy Hawes, twenty-somethings from Britain who go to Italy for a 10-week agricultural job in a village. When they find out that a charming “rustico” they’ve admired from afar is for sale at a price that wouldn’t purchase a yard of British soil, they buy it. Over the following month...more
This is the story of Annie and Lucy Hawes, twenty-somethings from Britain who go to Italy for a 10-week agricultural job in a village. When they find out that a charming “rustico” they’ve admired from afar is for sale at a price that wouldn’t purchase a yard of British soil, they buy it. Over the following month...more
Well right now a full review will have to wait as I am knee deep in practice exercises in cataloguing and i am sneaking a short break. However I was most inspired and excited the more I read of Annie Hawes adventures of living in Liguria (Italy). I think I have chanced upon some solutions to my home renovation problems (we are still living post 2007 flood conditions). While the roof doesn't leak anymore everything needs repainting and it seems lime is the answer. What a incredible thing Lime is!...more
A funny, wry acount of the author's life in rural Liguria. Anne has an inate ability to capture the minutiae of local life and the characters around her and convey both with empathy and humour.
Living part-time in SW France we smiled at the similarities between the rural traditions, behaviours and beliefs of Southern Europe. A simple change of names and expletives and this could have been a rural French village. An easy enjoyable read.
On the flip side the structure of the novel was odd; starting...more
Living part-time in SW France we smiled at the similarities between the rural traditions, behaviours and beliefs of Southern Europe. A simple change of names and expletives and this could have been a rural French village. An easy enjoyable read.
On the flip side the structure of the novel was odd; starting...more
A lovely book, full of self-deprecating humor. Unlike so many of the expatriate-in-Italy books, this one is light on the home renovation (although it does occur) and centers on a woman and her more sensible sister as they find their way into the social fabric of a small village. The book is full of observations that are chatty and unconstrained, and make no attempt to write poetic phrases about the beauties they are surrounded by, or the charms of the simple peasant lifestyle. They simply live t...more
I read this book on a recommendation from a casual acquaintance and, despite the book's slow start, I'm glad I hung in there and gave it a chance.
The beginning of the book shows Annie Hawes and her sister being swept along by the customs of daily Ligurian life. They bumble around amiably, and before long, they find themselves buying a broken-down house.
The book starts to get interesting once the women are settled in the house and begin to cultivate relationships with the townspeople, Ligurian pe...more
The beginning of the book shows Annie Hawes and her sister being swept along by the customs of daily Ligurian life. They bumble around amiably, and before long, they find themselves buying a broken-down house.
The book starts to get interesting once the women are settled in the house and begin to cultivate relationships with the townspeople, Ligurian pe...more
t took me a little longer than usual to get through this book, but that was only because I relished every moment of it. It was definitely one of the best I read in 2008. The author's writing was so skillful I could just imagine myself in her situation, at every sensory level. As I'm a fan of Italian food anyway, this book constantly made me hungry while I was reading it. I also enjoyed learning much more about the production of olives and olive oil than I've ever known before.
Substitute Portugal for Italy and this could be the story of my best friend's life. Annie Hawes and her friend go on a working holiday to rural Italy and come home having purchased a derelict cottage in the mountains. This book (the first of her travel writings) is about how they make their new home habitable, get to know the neighbours and embrace their new lifestyle. Interesting stuff and made me want to do the same!
It's kind of cheating that I liked this book so much, because what I really like about it is how much it resembles Ceriana. In reality I've heard that some of her descriptions of people and events got her into trouble socially with the town, as she revealed too many secrets. But it still makes me feel like I'm in Ceriana when I read it :)
At the risk of sounding Sound Bite American, this memoire could have used some serious paring down/editing. However, this was a detailed, thoughtful and observant anthropological recording of one Englishwoman's settling in a "peasant community" on the Italian Riviera in the mid eighties, pre Our Obsession With Olive Oil.
4.5 stars
Too bad about the title - it’s not even cheeky, just BAD! Luckily it’s the worst part of the book. You want the author as your pal for sure: she’s ballsy and hilarious and smart. She gives really earthy and lively descriptions of how she set up a home as a foreigner in a land where foreigner can mean from the next village over, let alone Milan, Sicily (gasp!), or England. There is no plot per se, but it’s a nice collection of stories, perfect for when you have the flu or are due for a l...more
Too bad about the title - it’s not even cheeky, just BAD! Luckily it’s the worst part of the book. You want the author as your pal for sure: she’s ballsy and hilarious and smart. She gives really earthy and lively descriptions of how she set up a home as a foreigner in a land where foreigner can mean from the next village over, let alone Milan, Sicily (gasp!), or England. There is no plot per se, but it’s a nice collection of stories, perfect for when you have the flu or are due for a l...more
This is one of the best books I have read about a person adapting to living in another country. The author is an English woman who moves to a small town in Northern Italy. I enjoyed reading about the Italian ideas of how one should eat, drink, or even swim. For example, I learned that "to go swimming in seawater outside the month of July or August is even worse for your health than drinking cappuccino after twelve noon!" Fun reading and very well written.
I loved the characters and the setting, the descriptions of village life and the insight into the culture. However this is a book to be dipped in and out of...read it for book group so time pressure to get it finished. It's a diary/blog of the authors time in Italy so no particular plot or twists to keep you gripped. Strangely at the end I found out there was a follow on and felt drawn to buy it.....not done so yet but watch this space.....
Overall a pleasant book that made me feel I was in Ital...more
I read this book a while ago but saw it at the library yesterday and remembered how much I liked it. After reading this book I decided that I want to retire in Italy and have a farm in the village. I loved the concept and that it was about two sisters.
Aug 16, 2012
Noora
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
tositapahtumat,
viihde
Hauska ja elämänmyönteinen kirja, joka on selvästi tehty samoihin aikoihin kuin esimerkiksi Frances Mayesin Toscana-kirjat. Nämä ovat kuitenkin parempia, ei niin kirjoitettu että vain rahalla saa parasta... Varmasti luen myös seuraavat osat.
Not too sure how much of this is accurate, but it talks about Annie and her sister living in an Italian village. We laugh at the accuracy of the coffee sizes they get served, and the rules for eating. Very enjoyable and humourous.
I loved this book - Annie's experiences in Liguria had me exploring the area on Google Earth and dreaming about a trip to Italy! Her experiences with the locals had me laughing out loud - I am now on to "Ripe for the picking" and loving it.
The beginning of the book has a rather complex and boring vocabulary and the rythim goes very slowly, not making you want to read more. I will continue to read a bit more to see if it gets better, as a friend has told me it does.
ridiculously enjoyable. Feeds all one's fantasies about getting away from it all, returning to the simple authentic life etc etc, written by someone who can write and is not a dummy.
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I say I finished though actually I couldn't. I thought it would appeal to me for the same reason 'Under the Tuscan Sun" did, but I forgot that the 'English Goat'-writing style really doesn't fit well with me.
The stories about Village life in Italy are very intriguing, but I was continually left with this feeling of, "Who IS this lady?!" The author wants the focus to be only on the people and situations, but it leaves a lot of questions.
Very nice book which you can use to read small parts at a time. It is great to see the Italian life trough English eyes.
The Apes! Buzzzzzzzz. Stylistically clumsy descriptions at times, but a thoroughly good read. This soooo Liguria!
It took me a while to get into her writing style but about a third of the way through I really started to enjoy it.
A tale of two british sisters who move to Italy on a whim, buy a farmhouse, etc. I love this kind of stuff.
This was OK. Two British women go to a small town in Italy for 8 weeks of work one summer, then fall in love with the place, buy a home and never leave. Mostly made me hungry - and to want to travel to Italy!
I love, love, love this book. I read it every summer holiday. I've read it at least six times.
May 26, 2009
Sira
added it
I read this book years ago, but just saw it recently and remembered to add it to this list.
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