There are many ways to enjoy Tuscany. Villa rental is a great way to absorb the breathtaking scenery of the region, for example – and you can do it all at your own leisure, too. And, when you’re lounging on a chair admiring the red sun setting over the honey-coloured cornfields with a gentle breeze blowing over your feet, what better way to enjoy this little slice of heaven than with a good book. And, what better choice of book than one of the many that have been set in the region itself. Here are some choices you may wish to consider:
The Prince
Many analogies in Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince (1532), the famously innovative political treatise, draw heavily on the rolling hills, valleys, plains, rivers and marshes of Tuscany. Villa rental properties in the region can still give you a glimpse of these stunning panoramas, and an insight into the genesis of this philosophical and historically significant document.
The Custom of the Country
This 1913 novel by the American novelist villas in hoskote Edith Wharton features the Tuscan city of Siena in a series of telling flashbacks. Like many of her novels, The Custom of the Country features a young woman – in this case the Midwestern girl called Undine Spragg, who attempts to ascend the slippery ladder of New York society.
A Room with a View
E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel, which is set in both England and Italy, unfolds beneath the hot sun of Tuscany. It is about strict Edwardian values coming into conflict with something much more profound, fluid, and vital. A film adaption, starring Helena Bonham Carter, was also filmed in the area, and really captures the astonishingly beautiful vistas of the region.
The English Patient
The English Patient (1992) is a novel by the Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje. During the later stages of the Second World War, a nurse looks after a badly disfigured solider in a villa in Tuscany. Villa rental accommodation, presently, will let you get a feel for the ambient atmosphere of this haunting novel, which was also adapted into an Oscar winning film.
Aaron’s Rod
D. H. Lawrence’s 1922 picaresque novel is partly set in Florence, the capital city of the region of Tuscany. Villa rental is a great idea if you want to bring to life the vivid scenes detailed by Lawrence’s powerful prose. The novel tells the story of Aaron Sisson, a union official in the English coal mines. Trapped in a failing marriage, he decides to flee on an impulse visit to Florence…
