Barbara Boyle

The Short of It:

If you want to feel wonderful about the world again, pick this up. It’s a beautiful, feel-good memoir.

The Rest of It:

This book is wonderful. In its brief 216 pages, I lingered and made the recipes and scanned all the QR codes for photos. Yes, people! Delicious Italian food AND photo albums of the restoration process of this beautiful 300 year old farmhouse. Barn, really.

Barbara Boyle and her husband Kim visit a small Italian town for vacation and fall in love with the town, show more its people and the overall sense of place. So much so that when they return to their US home in San Francisco, they begin to dream about a possible home there. Could that work?

With the right realtor, a dedicated construction crew and lots of trips back and forth, they purchase what is essentially a barn and turn it into the most beautiful home, overlooking the hillsides and wildflowers and yes, grapevines too.

I am not a big RENO person. As soon as foundation talk enters the chat, I tune out but not in this case. Solving the foundation issues in a 300 year old relic, takes precision, care and creative solutions. I found this part to be fascinating. Also, how they started with the roof! I would never have even though to start with that when the walls are crumbling and held up by mud.

Construction aside, the relationships that this couple built there are admirable and the kindness of strangers, who eventually become neighbors was so comforting and sweet. I loved hearing about their interactions with the local businesses too. All of the delicious restaurants and pasta making experiences and the emphasis on fresh produce and simple ingredients.

Reading Pinch Me was a palate cleanser for my soul. Anyone in need of that needs to find a copy immediately. I will say this, there is a deeper topic introduced towards the end and also a COVID pandemic mention given how it affected that region. But, it was just what the doc ordered as far as escapism.

Highly recommend. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year. Would make a great gift too. I would include some photos of the house but I want you to get the book and scan those QR codes for the albums!

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