Tuscany
Tuscan chiaroscuro
A trio of formidable British women are enjoying peaceful retirement in Italy – until their idyll is disrupted by a series of unforeseen events
Why Tuscany always beats Provence for me
A family of peacocks is sunning itself in our villa garden. They all look extraordinarily happy and composed, especially the…
Tuscany’s killer climate
The hotel manager had arranged for me to borrow an Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto two-seater convertible (1982) for the afternoon.…
Dear Mary
Q. Last year my husband and I stayed with a much-loved, but slightly airy-fairy friend in her house in Tuscany.…
What my chickens need is a dog
Of the nine chickens I used to keep here in Northamptonshire only one survived the summer, and it was the…
The word ‘holiday’ has become a political taboo
It’s August in Tuscany, and the market towns are eerily quiet, presumably because most of their inhabitants are off on…
The mathematical revolution behind ‘the greatest picture in the world’
The Indian inspiration with which Piero della Francesca created ‘the greatest picture in the world’
Why don’t the Italians ask me to translate their restaurant menus?
When we bought the farmhouse in Tuscany, where I am now, more than 40 years ago, there were only two…
