Antonia and Her Daughters

by Marlena De De Blasi

Seeking some peace and quiet from renovations at via Del Duomo, Marlena de Blasi escapes to the mountains of Tuscany where she meets the extraordinary Antonia, imperious matriach of four generations of strong-willed Tuscan women. The next volume of memoir from the author of the international bestseller A Thousand Days in Venice.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2012

Reviews

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetically written, this book is a gut wrenching story for anyone who endured World War II. Again, Marlena de Blasi proves she is an extremely accomplished memoirist. Her recollections of foraging wild plants and cooking bring great joy to the senses. Beyond those elemental desires she tells an enormous story of how people cope with war on their doorstep.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

I love this author and this story is poetically beautiful, just like her other books. Her descriptions use all five senses to cocoon you in the story. An amazing storyteller.

[Belli Mor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing story of a strong family and three generations of women. Bittersweet memories of the war time in Italy and all the human losses been recounted to the author by Antonia, the matriarch of the family. De Blasi does a wonderful job at keeping the story flowing.

[Joanne Kos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all of her books. Her memoirs are so well written you feel as though you are with her. After a thousand days in Venice, you must read them all.

[Susan S Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of her best

A moving exploration of Italian country life and the strong women who come together to cook and share stories of their lives.

[loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another amazing story by Ms. de Blasi. She lets us know vividly, the agony suffered by the Italian hill towns during WW2. As always the Tuscan life revolves around food, wine and celebrations. This book brought back the awful memories of the war and the strength of those who survived this time.
As always, these books are feasts in every sense… of food and their preparation, her observations and telling of them and her descriptions of people, surroundings and events. I am sad to know these memoirs are finished but I can always re-read them😁. She’s a wonderful writer whose great gift is to allow her audience to know and love the Italian people as she does. Reading these stories has been a true gift.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author is one I've read before, with always high ratings, however, this memoir only rates three stars. The author, Marlena De Blasi, has been a chef, journalist, food and wine consultant and restaurant critic. She has authored two internationally published Italian food cookbooks. This memoir relates her relationship with an older Italian woman who she met when she was living in a small cottage writing a subsequent book. It started very slow, with much introspection of feelings explained and description of scenery. The remaining book details the conversations Marlena has with the main character, Antonia, a woman who is 89. Although the description of the Tuscan region during WWII was interesting and heart-wrenching in the details, I grew weary of the continued food theme...gathering the herbs and vegetables for the meals, detailed descriptions of meal preparations, serving of said food dishes, and the subsequent eating thereof. De Blasi is an excellent writer, and I will continue to read her other offerings...this just wasn't my style.

[Ann Chenhall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continued the series I have been reading by this author. In this book, Marlena moves into a small lodge near a large farming family, deep in Tuscany. She is working on her writing and needs the quiet, yet still sees Fernando when he visits. Now Marlena becomes friends with a specific Tuscan family, especially an older woman, Antonia, who ends up telling of her life and Marlena records it. What a life! A farmer's daughter who is lovely and intelligent and is married young to the youngest of a more noble family with more land. She survives World War II and the Germans and many tragedies, but carries secrets and anger. Antonia hates the changes in Tuscany, especially outsiders coming in to buy up properties and bring in tourists. She tells Marlena her story, but doesn't want all this told until she is gone. They all cook and eat together, but some things are never discussed.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it very difficult to follow the way the writer wrote the beginning of the book. She flipped around from present to past and back again. It took too long to actually get into the main story. Once she did, the book became more and more interesting. I loved the parts about foraging for the various herbs and foods in the countryside and the talk about how it was prepared.

The story about Antonia's experiences in WWII was heart-wrenching. Being of Italian descent, it especially tore my heart to hear what actually happened.

I loved the book overall and plan to read more of this authors writings. I hope the other books will be written in an easier to read fashion, as the beginning of the book makes the reader work too hard for understanding.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as interesting nor as well written as other books she's written. There was just a little bit on food gathering and preparation.