Looking Back to 2010 – Armchair Travel, a Literary Journey

The following originally appeared at womenofgloucestercounty.com, but the books and films noted are still perfect for summer reading and viewing. © Copyright 2010 by Joan Kirschner

If real world travel is not on your vacation horizon this year, consider some armchair travel in the company of a good book (or film) with a foreign setting. No tickets or passport are required, just time and some lemonade or ice tea in easy reach.

Poet and professor Frances Mayes started a trend twenty years ago when she published Under the Tuscan Sun, her account of the pleasures and travails of buying and restoring a ruined villa near Cortona, Italy. Since then, there has been a charming film adaptation, more books, calendars and now her latest offering, Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life, chronicles another restoration project, and her account of the scenery, the people and the food is as appealing and tantalizing as ever. Many other writers have written about their Italian adventures, but Mayes is surely in a class by herself.

And of course, in addition to Under the Tuscan Sun, enjoy Italy on film with classics including A Room with a View, Mediterraneo, Il Postino, Cinema Paradiso, Night of the Shooting Stars and that classic of all classics, Roman Holiday.

If you’d prefer a visit to Provence, France, Peter Mayle is the master of that region. Mayle, a former advertising writer from London, also began his series of books about his life abroad about twenty years ago. Mayle has published a long string of titles, memoirs and fiction, beginning with A Year in Provence. A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe, is a recent film based on A Year in Provence. Let me know if you’ve seen it!

Last year’s Julie and Julia offers a charming picture of 1950s France, and with Meryl Streep playing Julia Child, you can practically taste the croissants and smell the Seine. Before watching the film, consider reading Child’s fascinating memoir My Life in France.

For a lighthearted romantic comedy with Parisian and wine country settings, and with a wonderful performance by Kevin Kline, check out French Kiss.

A trip to Greece, a country whose economy is currently far closer to the brink than ours, is a fantasy for many. For an escape to the Greek Islands, Shirley Valentine is a film adaptation of the London and Broadway play of the same name. An English housewife, feeling unappreciated by her family, needs a change of scene and a boost to her self-image. Her trip to Greece is a chance for her to reconsider her life and who she is.

For a more serious read, The Invisible Mountain, by Carolina de Robertis, takes us through the lives of three generations of women in a Uruguayan family. The setting is a country that has experienced political upheaval but has recovered and is now a travel destination.

Want more? Consider travel essays by Tony Cohan, Mary Morris and Paul Theroux on their trips around the globe, some of which were happy, and some not, but are all fascinating.