Marlena De Blasi
One summer in Sicily, Marlena de Blasi entered a world of unforgettable magic when she discovered the secret Sicilian villa of Donnafugata. There, life was ruled by ritual and by an unassailable seventy-year-old matriarch and protectress, Tosca.
Willowy and aloof, with an aura of a distant time, Tosca was a woman whose life story begged to be told. In the warmth of Tosca's garden, Marlena would receive bountiful lessons of life and love
...American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, married rather late in life. In search of the rhythms of country living, the couple moves to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany with no phone, no central heating, and something resembling a playhouse kitchen. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much
...