Ferenc Máté

Liked it. Enjoyed that it was a different style from Frances Mayes. Humorous.
Great writing-descriptive, feels like you are there.

This was a mildly entertaining account of how the Hungarian/Canadian author, who is a writer by profession, found and bought a crumbling ancient friary building in Tuscany, rebuilt it into a family home, and planted a vineyard with four different kinds of wine grapes. Pleasantly descriptive & humorous & evocative of living in Tuscany, yet it kind of lacked a soulful touch.I was conflicted about this book. On the one hand, I was interested in the details, such as the hunt for the perfect show more property through the hills and dales of rustic Tuscany, the find of the ruins of an Etruscan city in his 70 acre hilly woods, the pros and cons of the various grapes for the various growing conditions of his patchwork quilt of a 15-ish acre vineyard in the property, his whacky misadventures with construction equipment (though he's clearly very handy), the insane bureaucratic process of getting approval to have a vineyard and getting farm tax abatements, etc. Doesn't that sound like good armchair traveling?On the other hand, I was annoyed by some things. His wife, a central character in the book, was depicted oddly shallowly which is too bad because she seemed like an interesting person, an artist and former competitive plane glider. And the author seemed to be conflicted himself about what to reveal with regards to the finances of doing what he did - he says he might not have enough money to buy & totally rebuild the friary, mentions specifics about the price of certain acreage from an unethical businessman neighbor who offers wildly varying prices, but draws a total veil over how he actually manages to afford to spend 18 months with loads of contractors rebuilding the place, then buy thousands of grape vines, vineyard machinery, custom made vats for the wine, spend 2 years in Rome while his wife goes to wine school & kid is in private school, etc etc. The book's a romp through the shallow bits of the house/vineyard purchase & creation process rather than a memoir with the kind of in-depth explorations I'd have preferred. show less

Author Ferenc Mate and his wife Candace did what many of us would love to do – moved to a country where the food, wine and ambiance leaves you with a permanent vacation state of mind.

OK, maybe that didn’t happen to them (the vacation mind set) but I would wager it could be that way for me and my husband. Tuscany. Just stating Tuscany evokes images of rolling green hills, vineyards, small local cafes serving strong coffee and homemade pastries.

This memoir details their experience with a show more foreign culture, the procedures of purchasing a place to live, Italian laws as well as new markets, foods and finding a place in their new society. Making friends, enjoying life and living the dream.

The industrious folks who have faced challenges of remodeling and language barriers (the likes of Frances Mayes, *Carol Drinkwater and Marlena De Blasi) impress me. I am a lazy soul….imagining sitting on a terrace with a local wine, swirling the glass, nibbling on fresh bread and watching wildlife and/ or the local vineyard activities or a view of Mediterranean sea.

All the work that the author and aforementioned writers tackled smacks of being much more diligent than I fear I am capable. Perhaps if we are offered a place in Provence or Tuscany or anywhere olives, garlic and wine are abundant…ok, then I would work hard and make the ruin our own castle.

* I know Carol Drinkwater is in Provence….I am equally jealous and impressed

Of all the dishes I could have made – crostini, crepes with ricotta, pasta, rabbit ragu……….I made a Tuscan Pot Roast. Why? Because it’s hot and I wanted to use a slow cooker and it had the name Tuscan in the recipe. It was overdone, but alas, this is just another learning experience. Should have stuck with crostini
You may find the recipe at Squirrel Head Manor

More about the author:
Ferenc Máté has made a career of out documenting his own quests—whether it’s restoring a Tuscan ruin, building a vineyard from scratch, or sailing the seven seas.
Born in Transylvania, he escaped at age eleven when the Hungarian revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks. He grew up in Vancouver and has lived in California, Paris, Rome, the Bahamas and New York. He has worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boat-builder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. He is the author of 16 books translated into 12 languages. show less

A clear disappointment. It starts in Tuscany, but it’s a mythical Tuscany that may never have actually existed. According to the author it was, but is not quite now, idyllic in every way. He begins with each of those excellent qualities and then takes you along to other parts of the globe that compare poorly with his ideal.

There are one or two nice thoughts at the beginning, but the book is tiresome after just a little bit.