Movies:

Much Ado About Nothing, the William Shakespeare play faithfully reproduced by Kenneth Branagh, also starring Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington. Its cinematography of Tuscany is stunning. One of its settings, a post-Renaissance villa and excellent winery, is a favorite stop for our groups who visit Chianti.

Stealing Beauty, the story of a young woman "coming of age" almost eclipsed by the beautiful Tuscan scenery.

Under the Tuscan Sun, forget the plot, just look at the pictures.

Books:

The Miracle of St. Anna by James McBride. The setting of The Miracle of St. Anna is the stunning Garfagnana mountain area north of Lucca that became the Gothic Line and the site of some of the worst battle scenes as the Allies fought their way north through Italy during World War II. It explores the relationships of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black regiments led by white officers, with the Italian people of this remote region. It centers on the massacre of 570 women and children by Nazis in the village of St. Anna and the relationship of a small boy and one of the Buffalo Soldiers, his "chocolate soldier." Bittersweet and illuminating, the story was recently made into a film by Spike Lee and was met with mixed reviews. Read the book first.

The Reluctant Tuscan by Phil Doran. A multi-layered story beginning with the reluctant arrival of an award-winning television producer/writer to view the ramshackle house his Italophile wife, herself an award-winning sculptress, has bought in Tuscany. The story continues with their challenges in dealing with the bureaucracy of restoration, wherein the wife's indomitable charm prevails, their growing relationship with the "locals" and their place in the community. More important is the renaissance their marriage undergoes as they work together and the epiphany he experiences about his career. A new and deeper take on the usual ex-pats in Tuscany story. Movie rights have been procured by John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston, and production is in process.

A Tuscan Childhood, an autobiolgraphy by Kinta Beevor, the daughter of artistic parents who chose to live in a remote castle in the Garfagnana mountains north of Lucca. The story is of an idyllic childhood between the Wars, followed by a return after the last war to recount the story of the Tuscan people rebuilding their shattered existence.

Images and Shadows, by Iris Origo, another fascinating autobiography of an initially shy girl overshadowed by an eccentric mother who lived in the Villa Medici near Fiesole, the book takes you through World War II and again to the rebuilding of the peasant existence after the War. The Villa Medici is one of the villas and gardens visited by the Tuscan Gardens and Farmhouse Cooking program, and the artists programs.

Too Much Tuscan Sun, by Dario Castagno, a funny look at tourists inspired to come to Italy by Under the Tuscan Sun, written by a tour guide from Chianti.