Book description
This book is a lush and beautiful memoir of a very special house and a
superb recreation of a bygone era.
In 1967, veteran travel writer Eric Newby and his heroic wife Wanda
fulfiled their dream of a return to life in the Italian hills where they
first met during World War II. But this fulfilment would not come easy.
The dream materialised in the form of I Castagni ('The Chestnuts'), a
small, decrepit farmhouse with no roof, an abandoned septic tank and its
own indigenous wildlife reluctant to give up their home. But in the
foothills of the Apuan Alps on the border of Liguria and Northern
Tuscany, this ramshackle house would soon become a hub of love,
friendship and activity.
Whether recounting dangerous expeditions through Afghanistan or
everyday life in a country house, Newby's talent shines through as one
of the foremost writers of the comic travel genre. Full of Newby's sharp
wit and good humour, 'A Small Place' in Italy returns, twenty years
later, to the life of Newby's much-cherished classic, Love and War in
the Apennines. It lovingly recounts the quickly disappearing lifestyle
of the idiosyncratic locals, and the enduring friendships they forge,
whether sharing in growing their first wine harvest as novices or frying
poisonous mushrooms for a feast. 'Newby is of course a travel writer
of near genius - wonderfully dry in the narration of the tribulations
which so often afflict him and Wanda, and splendidly precise on the nuts
and bolts of things … Highly readable and dangerously liable to induce a
craving for one's own patch of Italian paradise' Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph
'Newby is an incomparable, shrewd and witty travel writer … immensely
enjoyable' John Mortimer, Mail on Sunday
'Eric Newby must rank as one of the foremost travel writers of our age.
Among his skills lies the ability to carry the reader with him on the
most varied of journeys … a sequel to his 1971 classic, 'Love and War in
the Apennines'… [Newby's] good humour, and his loving eye for a way of
life now disappearing, makes it a sterling contribution to that very
particular shelf of English literature, describing life as lived among
the Italians' Hugh Carless, Guardian
'A jovial account of living in Tuscany' Literary Review
'[Newby's] book is cheerful, informative and often very funny' Times
Literary Supplement
'There is a deep respect for human personality here, and a wealth of
information scrupulously and precisely retailed' Daily Telegraph
'Beautifully written. Full of wisdom, humour and humanity, Newby is
touching on the poignancy of life, its fleeting pleasures and ultimate,
inevitable loss … He is a perceptive interpreter of our dreams' Sunday Express
'Newby goes into satisfying detail about the people, the food and the
landscape, and the house itself takes a central role in the book … by
observing the details of his surroundings with clarity and
understanding, he gives the reader a gentle picture of a pleasant
Arcadia' Wanderlust Eric Newby was born in London in 1919. In 1938, he
joined the four-masted Finnish barque Moshulu as an apprentice and
sailed in the last Grain Race from Australia to Europe, by way of Cape
Horn. During World War II, he served in the Black Watch and the Special
Boat Section. In 1942, he was captured and remained a prisoner-of-war
until 1945. He subsequently married the girl who helped him to escape,
and for the next fifty years, his wife Wanda was at his side on many
adventures. After the war, he worked in the fashion business and book
publishing but always travelled on a grand scale, sometimes as the
Travel Editor for the Observer. He was made CBE in 1994 and was awarded
the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Guild of Travel Writers in
2001. Eric Newby died in 2006.
