Monday, September 22, 2014

Book #4 "At Least You're in Tuscany" by Jennifer Criswell

"Lots of people dream of Tuscany. Most do the sensible thing: they rent villas with friends and spend their days touring the countryside and hill towns. they sip wine, savor the food, and enjoy the same conversations of their regular lives...only in Tuscany. [...] There are fewer people who actually decide to pull up roots and move to Tuscany." -pg. 3

And that's exactly what Jennifer Criswell does. She takes your run of the mill travel memoir and takes it up a notch. There is no return ticket booked for Jennifer. She is in Italy to stay.

This book appealed to me for several reasons:
     1) It's got freakin' TUSCANY in the title--I could stop here, but in case that's not enough to hook you, I'll keep going. 
     2) She's an ex-lawyer (and me being a recent law school grad a little weary of her chosen career path, to read the same uncertainty was a breath of fresh air).
     3) She mentions my hero-Lucy Ricardo-in the first few pages!
     4) She moves to another country.

Jennifer details not only the perils that all people traveling will understand (like language barriers), but also those things you can only learn from actually living there. Explore the markets of Moltepuciano with Jennifer (oh, and her dog, Cinder!), do laundry and hang out your scandalously red towels out to dry, and have yourself an Italian fling. 

In addition, you'll learn a lot about Jennifer's quest to get work authorization and Italian citizenship. You'll also get acquainted with the Italian bureaucratic system and the endless red tape on the road to finally becoming a citizen.

Jennifer encounters many woes and her first year in Moltepuciano is filled with pitfalls, but along the way it is also filled with hope, new friends, handsome men, caring strangers, coffee, and creativity. Even when things aren't going her way, Jennifer always reminds herself, "At least you're in Tuscany."

Her will and determination to eek it out, even when things aren't exactly going her way will inspire anyone who's ever dreamed of living abroad. It won't be easy, but it will always be worth it!




Thanks for reading!!!

Up Next: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

ETA: Wednesday!


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