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A Thousand Days in Venice (Italian Memoirs)

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 2,353 ratings · 378 reviews

He saw her across the Piazza San Marco and fell in love from afar. When he sees her again in a Venice café a year later, he knows it is fate. He knows little English; and she, a divorced American chef, speaks only food-based Italian. Marlena thinks she is incapable of intimacy, that her heart has lost its capacity for romantic love. But within months of their first meeti...more

Paperback, 290 pages

Published June 3rd 2003 by Ballantine Books (first published 2002)

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Sep 25, 2010 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

As I have said before there is just something about travel books that draws me in. Ever since I read A Year in Provence I was hooked on the genre. A couple of months ago I read A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Not far into the book I realized that Venice came before Tuscany and I had missed how our lovely couple met and moved to Tuscany. I'm a stickler for reading series in the correct order so I was disturbed that I was going to have to go backward and the story would be ruined. The way de Blasi wri...more

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May 08, 2007 Catherine rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book had a few enjoyable moments, but unfortunately, the dull moments lasted longer. In a nutshell, the book is about a middle-aged Midwestern woman who travels to Venice, meets an Italian man who she spends a couple of days with, then he goes to visit her in St. Louis for two weeks, then she gives up her entire life to move to Venice to marry him. There have been a couple of sequels, so I know this couple are still together, but I don't think I'll bother reading any other books by this aut...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Maltaise rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book did not completely achieve its potential. The author, a middle-aged woman from the Mid-West meets an Italian while she is in Venice-who is not without his eccentricities. He visits her in St. Louis and she decides to marry him and move to Venice. The story describes their relationship, her discovery of Venice and Italian culture and her re-doing of his home. The story is enjoyable and you want their relationship to work-however I thought the story line could have been better developed.

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Jan 13, 2009 bookczuk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography-or-memoir, bookcrossing, places-i-have-been

What an odd combination of feelings and thoughts I had reading this book. First of all, nostalgia, both for Venice (you'd have to be dead or totally unromantic to not be wistful about Venice) and St Louis, where I used to live. When Marlena talks about Balabans, I heaved a sign, remembering all the great times and meals I had at the restaurant with friends and loved ones. When she mentioned Forest Park, I escaped back to the multitude of memories I have of that wonderful place, that was just mer...more What an odd combination of feelings and thoughts I had reading this book. First of all, nostalgia, both for Venice (you'd have to be dead or totally unromantic to not be wistful about Venice) and St Louis, where I used to live. When Marlena talks about Balabans, I heaved a sign, remembering all the great times and meals I had at the restaurant with friends and loved ones. When she mentioned Forest Park, I escaped back to the multitude of memories I have of that wonderful place, that was just mere footsteps from a flat I had in Uni and Nursing School.

I actually experienced house lust, reading about her place in St Louis. It sounds like just the kind of house mr czuk and I would love to make into a czuk home, descending shades of terra cotta and all.

And the food-- the food she talked about was wonderful. I hadn't realized there were recipes in the back until the very end. While some are a bit more gourmet than I am willing to go (especially for some of the ingredients) there are a couple I am going to copy out to try.

Love at first site? Been there, done that, still happy. But I rose in love with another American, and didn't give up my world to become immersed in one half a world and another language away. Good thing love isn't a competition!

I loved the titles of her chapters, and how they were actual phrases in each chapter. "Signora, the Telephone is for You", "I knew a Woman, I Knew a Man, "That Lush Moment Just Before Ripeness".--that she called her love "the Stranger" and descriped his "blueberry eyes". Little phrases too, like "Why can't Destiny announce itself, be a twelve headed ass, wear purple trousers, a name tag, even? All I know is that I don't fall in love, neither at first sight or at half-sight, neither easily nor over time. My heart is rusty from the old pinions that hold it shut."

Another one:
"Living as a couple never means that each gets half. You must take turns at giving more than getting."

I can't say I adored this book, but it definitely had its moments of delight. I am giving it an 4 for those moments. I recently came upon the sequel to this book that takes place in Tuscany. It's on my TBR pile.
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Apr 19, 2013 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was recommended that I read A Thousand Days in Venice by a dear blogging friend who shares the same taste in books. She did not disappoint.

This book was such a treat to read.

While on a trip to Venice, de Blasi meets her future husband, known as "the stranger" throughout the book. He eventually finds her in St. Louis, and they move back to Venice to be wed. There are so many story lines to follow in the book. There is her romance…or how two relative strangers fall in love and learn to stay i...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Maggiemars rated it 1 of 5 stars

Oh brother.
A friend gave me this book before my last trip to Italy. She likes this sort of book, dripping with overly dramatic and very unrealistic romanticism. Complete with Dianphanous gowns and melodramatic gestures.
If I hadn't found it funny, I would have never finished it.
The story is yet another one of a woman who has undergone "dramatic changes" in her life and runs to Italy to find herself. Are you still awake? Sorry I dozed off for a moment there.
In Venice she meets a lonely Italian b...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 5 of 5 stars

In November 1993 the author arrived in Venice with two friends in tow. As they lunched at a small local place, she noticed a table of four men seated nearby. After all the other patrons had left and she and her friends were alone in the restaurant, the waiter approached and said there was a telephone call for her. “Not possible,” she answered. They had only just arrived that morning and had not yet notified their friends where they were, surely they hadn’t told anyone where they were going for l...more In November 1993 the author arrived in Venice with two friends in tow. As they lunched at a small local place, she noticed a table of four men seated nearby. After all the other patrons had left and she and her friends were alone in the restaurant, the waiter approached and said there was a telephone call for her. “Not possible,” she answered. They had only just arrived that morning and had not yet notified their friends where they were, surely they hadn’t told anyone where they were going for lunch! But the waiter insisted and she went to the phone, to hear a “deep, deliberate, Italian voice I’d never heard before” ask – Is it possible for you to meet me tomorrow at the same time? It’s very important for me.

She resisted for several days, but he kept finding her. And when she returned to St Louis, there he was two days later - come across the ocean to insist she return with him to Venice. He was “tired of waiting” for his life to begin, for joy and love to come to him.

This is a delicious memoir of a love that surprised these two middle-aged people – a Venetian banker and an American journalist (and chef). I am smiling thinking about it. I kept reading passages aloud to anyone who would listen (and even a few who didn’t want to listen). De Blasi is not only in love with Fernando (“the stranger”), she is in love with Venice. No, she is in love with life, and she imbues her writing with that love. Is it all smooth sailing? Of course not. He lives, and prefers, a Spartan life – simple, small meals, a functional but uninspired and colorless apartment. She is vibrant, wearing “too-red” lipstick, and wanting to surround herself in rich fabrics and deep colors. And, she is a chef – she loves to cook large elaborate meals, to nurture people. Oh, and she isn’t fluent in Italian, much less the Venetian dialect, and he doesn’t speak English. And yet … She held tight to her friend’s advice: “Take it in your hands and hold tight to this love. If it comes, it comes only once.”

Read this. And enjoy life!
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Dec 21, 2011 Melissa Conner added it · review of another edition

The sun is beginning her descent. The last few rays of sunshine illuminate my living room as I curl up tighter under my blanket. In the last remains of the day, my red wine shines purple hues onto my plate of grilled salmon and rosemary seasoned potatoes. I feel my room soak up the evening as I turn to the final chapter of A Thousand Days in Venice.

This is a book for romantics, for those who believe in love. In the words of the Chicago Tribune, it is “a true, disarming, and unexpectedly endearin...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Rodney Gitzel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Seems to me I tried reading, once, her Tuscany book, and couldn't get passed the first few pages. I picked up this up over the summer at a garage sale, and finally tried it, and found it quite good.

Partially it's that I love Venice. I've been there a total of two days, but am entranced. So I had some context for the locations, and I'd like to someday explore the places she explored.

I also found her thoughts on "love" and her new relationship to be quite interesting, and not so of the norm. Thoug...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Ed Howe rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book. Nothing as I thought it would be. Picked this up in a used bookstore. Pleasantly surprised. It is so very rich in identifying the culture of the Italian life and rich history of friends, family and relationships and how it is intertwined with the food and traditions of Tuscan living. I've been to Tuscany but what can you gleen in 10 days. Marlena De Blasi builds a fabulous story of truth and tribal knowledge steeped deeply in what we are only beginning to realize here in Am...more

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Aug 28, 2010 Cameling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

Move aside Eat,Pray,Love ... Marlena de Blassi has given us a truly reflective look at a woman who is unafraid to trust her soul to whatever the Fates may bring. Be it love in the form of a skinny Venetian banker who fell in love with her profile when she first came to Venice, or be it leaving her St Louise home and moving to Venice to be with this stranger, or be it embracing her new home and having that gently elegant lady embrace her.

On the surface, the story is a about a woman who falls in l...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Annmarie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cooking, cultural, italy, literary, memoir, nonfiction, travel

To continue my travel memoir kick. . . this was a pleasing memoir with a lovely literary style of writing and wonderful descriptions of food and cooking. Good for foodies. The author is an American chef and writer who while staying in Venice meets a "blueberry eyed" Venetian man who looks like Peter Sellers and who falls in love with her at first sight. She falls in love with him too, and moves to live in Venice with him, in a decidedly unromantic apartment that she redecorates & then they r...more

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Jun 24, 2010 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you love travel, food, adventure and spontaneity then this is a memoir for you. This is about an accomplished, middle aged chef/journalist, single mother of two grown children Marlena De Blasi, from St. Louise Missouri. After a trip to Venice, she's seduced by an Italian man by the name of Fernando, that she continuously describes as the Stranger with blueberry eyes. They end up keeping in touch and after Fernando visits her in St Louise Missouri, they decide it's best that she moves to Venic...more

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Nov 16, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, memoir-non-fiction, travel

I was hesitant whether this would be good or not (to me, a memoir is only good if the author has an interesting story to tell, or if they can tell that story in an interesting manner) -- but three things intrigued me: 1) It's about love and chance encounters 2) It's about travel 3) Specifically, it's about Venice, Italy.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Turns out, the author did have an interesting story to tell, and she told it in a mostly interesting manner. I found some of it to be pretty unbel...more I was hesitant whether this would be good or not (to me, a memoir is only good if the author has an interesting story to tell, or if they can tell that story in an interesting manner) -- but three things intrigued me: 1) It's about love and chance encounters 2) It's about travel 3) Specifically, it's about Venice, Italy.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Turns out, the author did have an interesting story to tell, and she told it in a mostly interesting manner. I found some of it to be pretty unbelievable -- that a modern, successful woman would just up and leave everything she had and knew in America (friends, family, businesses) to move to Italy to marry a man she hardly knew (literally, had only spent a handful of days with him). However, I guess that's the romantic part of it - that totally unfathomable piece that some people may dream of - that makes it interesting. I can actually relate somewhat, as I met a Greek man while I was on vacation in Athens a few years ago, and had an almost similar experience. The difference being that after a year of 'being together' (as much as can be possible with a trans-oceanic relationship), I realized that it wasn't meant to be. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I had followed through with the relationship. Kudos to the author of this book for throwing caution to the wind and giving it a shot. Whether she was crazy, carefree, or just brave and willing to take chances, who knows -- but what a wonderful experience she seemed to have.

I enjoyed reading about Venice itself, as well. It's a magical city and reading this book reminds me that I really want to revisit the city and discover more that it has to offer. It was interesting to see the city through the eyes of an American who has been transplanted there and who has to try and weave herself into the threads of the culture. I also had to laugh at some of the roadblocks she encountered as far as fitting in with the Venetians and their culture and customs, or the bureaucracy in Italy, or just the differences in life between America and Italy. I suppose some people would also enjoy all the references to food (and the recipes in the back), but that didn't really interest me.

All in all, a quick, enjoyable read. (less)

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Apr 19, 2012 Mal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hmmmm where to begin with the review…

I read the cover jacket and I had to read this novel, after all who doesn’t want to hear the details of a genuine love story with the setting being Venice Italy – unless you lack a pulse you will want to know the details of the romance the jacket noted. Sadly, the book was more a travel/food writing than it was a love story. Don’t get me wrong Ms. de Blasi did a wonderful job painting the picturesque city of Venice and its people and culture, Ms. de Blasi eve...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Beth Bonini rated it 4 of 5 stars

The basis of this memoir is almost preposterously romantic: a woman is eating in a restaurant with friends and she notices a man watching her. He leaves; and then calls her on the restaurant's phone and asks if she will meet him. It turns out that he had glimpsed her walking in Venice a year before this accidental meeting in a restaurant -- and fallen in love with her face. The woman, a food writer and cafe owner, is resolutely independent. A mother of two adult children, and divorced for many y...more

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May 10, 2013 Angela Duea rated it 2 of 5 stars

There were a couple of things I really liked about this book. I loved the main character's spirit of adventure and how she seemed so at home in the world and adaptable. I also love how, at the verge of leaving her old life and moving to a new country, she decides to leave behind all her old sad life stories and just keep the good.

That said, I was alarmed at her quick courtship and attachment to the man she calls "the stranger" during most of the book. I felt sure that some young girl is going to...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Ritja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biografie, familie, ernaehrung, garten, humor-satire, italien, deutschland

Marlena DeBlasi lernt auf einer Geschäftsreise einen Italiener kennen. Sie bleiben im Kontakt und schnell stellt es sich heraus, dass es die große Liebe für beide ist. Sie stehen beide mitten im Leben und wollen doch die Brücken hinter sich abreißen und etwas Neues anfangen. Sie zieht von den USA nach Venedig, um ihren "Fremden" zu heiraten. Schon bald muss sie sich an das Leben in Venedig einstellen...die Prioritäten im Leben der Italiener sind andere als bei den Amerikanern. Aber trotz aller W...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've had this book for a long time (probably bought it in 2001 or so) and re-read it a few days ago. I like it despite its over-the-top flowery style. The author is a gourmet cook, and she seems to write like she probably cooks: lots of fancy ingredients, exotic details and flair. It's almost hard to believe that she's telling a true story since she waxes on so poetically about it all. But I still like it. It's great escapist fare for the part of me who would love to fall in love with a romantic...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: food, memoirs, travel

In recent years I’ve become a voracious reader of the memoir genre. I love learning about the interesting lives of other people! In some instances I want to be them and in others I’m glad I’m not them! When I saw that Barnes and Noble was having a travel themed eBook sale I quickly grabbed some of the memoirs. A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi happened to be one of these selections!

In this autobiographical tale of food and romance, Marlena De Blasi first takes us to Venice, Italy in...more In recent years I’ve become a voracious reader of the memoir genre. I love learning about the interesting lives of other people! In some instances I want to be them and in others I’m glad I’m not them! When I saw that Barnes and Noble was having a travel themed eBook sale I quickly grabbed some of the memoirs. A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi happened to be one of these selections!

In this autobiographical tale of food and romance, Marlena De Blasi first takes us to Venice, Italy in the late 1980′s. She is a food journalist and chef, and is on her first trip to Venice. In the Piazza San Marco, a man, whom she affectionately calls “the stranger”, spots her from across the Piazza and instantly falls in love with her from afar. When he sees her again, this time a year later, he decides that it is fate and that they must be together. Marlena, fresh from a divorce, politely declines the man’s affections, thinking herself too damaged and hurt to be of any use in a relationship. However, as luck would have it, only a few short months later she finds herself packing up her life in America to move to Venice and marry this “stranger”. Although the culture shock is enormous, Marlena finds herself embracing the new and exciting smells, sounds, and life that this exciting city has to offer. She cooks traditional American dishes for her new Italian friends to try, while they teach her to dance in the candlelight. Complete with numerous recipes of her own creation, Marlena tells her tale of life and love in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

At the end of this novel, I had very mixed emotions. I’ll start with some of the areas of the work that could use some improvement, then work towards its strengths. Initially, I thought the book was very hectic – I kept reading and felt like I was being thrown all over the place. The concept/true story element is what kept me reading, but the flow of the book was rough. The best way to describe what I mean is it felt like I was reading something that had been translated oddly. It’s extremely difficult to try to explain what I mean here, it wasn’t poor word choices or the story proper, more the way it was structured and pieced together.

Additionally, the relationship between Marlena and “the stranger” seemed really odd at times. He wanted a marriage, yet it was completely one-sided (when he quits his job at the bank, he just does it, even though they discussed waiting till they got their affairs in order). She up and leaves her life and her children in America, moves to Venice for this man, and yet she feels restricted in the things that she can do and say to him. One example is her cooking. Obviously, cooking and food are HUGE parts of her life, having been a chef and restaurateur. She becomes ashamed of this at certain points, and she writes of having to hide her trips to the market. It’s almost as if she has an alternative life outside of her marriage, creating an entirely different life out there with the merchants and market people.

What was great? Her descriptions of Venice and food are astounding. Having been to Italy before I know that it generates strong feelings in a person. The landscape and buildings are stunning to see. To read her words and thoughts so eloquently put was very rewarding. I found myself at a loss for words on many of the things during my trip to Italy/Spain, so it was rewarding to find someone who could write about the beauty of it all so well. In all, this beautiful imagery that de Blasi is able to conjure up in her book was enough to keep me from becoming too upset over the odd flow of the book. It’s still definitely a worthwhile read for the recipes alone! I can’t wait to try some of them out, they look quite delicious! So, if you’re in the mood for a book that will take you on a mini-tour of all the sights and sounds that Venice has to offer, as well as a personal back story, give A Thousand Days in Venice a try.

Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
http://wp.me/p18lIL-XV (less)

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Nov 02, 2010 Kimberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am completely in love with Venice. I've never been to this lovely place on the Adriatic, but reading what I have (see also: Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers, Story of My Life by Giacomo Casanova and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann), watching the movies that I have (Bread and Tulips, Wings of the Dove, Dangerous Beauty, and Casanova), knowing what I know and enjoying a chilled wineglass of sgroppino (recipe for this exquisitely delectable lemon gelato with vodka and sparkling wine is includ...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the story.

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Jul 20, 2010 Evelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one's an easy,fun read. The author, a divorcee of a certain age, meets a local banker of a certain age while on a trip to Venice with some girlfriends. He's unattached and smitten with her and though she initially resists, the two begin a relationship. Very quickly, and against most of her friends' advice, she closes up her life in the U.S and moves to Venice to be with him, and they eventually marry. This is a true story (though I suspect some of the sharper edges have been sanded down), a...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, lakewood, other-cultures

The author is pretty daring (actually I'd call it goofy) as she marries an Italian who becomes smitten with her on first site and follows her around a few days. It's menopausal madness but I do give Ms. De Blasi credit for being extremely detached from the problems of life and being able to go for the gusto. It's a little disconcerting that she continues to refer to her husband as "the stranger" even at the end of the story. He's hardly one to fantasize over, unless you like Peter Sellers and ve...more

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Apr 19, 2009 Sunni rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-biography

I loved this book because I love Venice. I was especially engrossed with the first two thirds -- as she is really unraveling the secrets of the city. I appreciate DeBlasi's being so in tune with all Venice's beauty and nuance and finding the perfect words to convey it. FOR ME it was a love story of a place, moreso than of her husband...who goes from sounding incredibly romantic, to a tad too controlling and distant as the book progresses. But that may just be from all the adjustments that have t...more

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May 12, 2013 Hannah Givens rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's a beautiful travel story and love story and food memoir. There seem to be quite a few sequels, so presumably the couple is still together and it seems to be quite the wonderful romance, but still the parts I remember best are the ones where she's upset, or her husband does things without asking her and doesn't like the fact that she's a chef. I remember how difficult and annoying it sounds to live in Venice, to deal with Italian bureaucracy and to try to communicate with a nation full of pe...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Tory rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book seemed well written, intelligent and great descriptions, but there was very little heart. The only passion was about food. There were recipes thrown into the story, a bit reminiscent of Like Water For Chocolate (which I loved).

It was a strue story, written entirely in first person. An unexpected romance, it says on the cover. For being a love story, it was written with a great and glaring obvious lack of emotion.

Being a true story, I have a hard time with my criticism. I can't say th...more

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May 23, 2009 Liane Spicer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Italy fascinates me and this book was highly recommended so I just had to buy it. I was not disappointed. De Blasi's approach to living parallels mine, which is: never be afraid to start again; never stop believing in the power of love; let your life be an adventure; never stop learning and growing; go with your heart even if all the voices say you're crazy to step away from the safe, tried and true...

As a prolific reader and a writer, I found her writing style exquisite. Her imagery does justi...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Patti rated it 3 of 5 stars

The plot was seductive enough to get me through a snow storm, but the purple, florid, prose was just sad.
I was surprised that a professional freelancer would allow herself to be so self-indulgent in her prose. Where, pray tell, was her editor on this?
Loved the conceit of continually referring to her fiance/husband as "the stranger".
It's an interesting story of a woman in love. But with whom?
It was obvious that her true loves here were Venice and food. Her relationship with her husband was bizar...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Martha rated it 2 of 5 stars

This should have been a book I like. It is about an older woman who falls in love with a Venitian man and throws over her stable life to move to Venice to be with him. However, I found it inexplicably depressing. It's romantic to move to Venice, but not to live in a near-hovel. There are some things love just can't substitute for--like comfort. As my late, dear husband used to say, I was built for comfort, not for speed. And as an old boyfriend once said, if I'd been on a wagon train, I would ha...more

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Quotes from A Thousand Days in Venice

“Living as a couple never means that each gets half. You must take turns at giving more than getting. It’s not the same as a bow to the other whether to dine out rather than in, or which one gets massaged that evening with oil of calendula; there are seasons in the life of a couple that function, I think, a little like a night watch. One stands guard, often for a long time, providing the serenity in which the other can work at something. Usually that something is sinewy and full of spines. One goes inside the dark place while the other one stays outside, holding up the moon.” — 24 people liked it

“Much of my crying is for joy and wonder rather than for pain. A trumpet's wailing, a wind's warm breath, the chink of a bell on an errant lamb, the smoke from a candle just spent, first light, twilight, firelight. Everyday beauty. I cry for how life intoxicates. And maybe just a little for how swiftly it runs.” — 15 people liked it

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