A Valley in Italy

Tracing a year in the life of an Umbrian village, this book shifts month by month through the seasons and the social rites of people. Side by side with the celebrations of particular saints' days, the accompanying banquets, the dances, processions and the cultivation of the land upon which the area has long depended, the author describes the restoration of the huge, dilapidated palazzo she and her family occupy. Between the purchase of the villa and her daughters's wedding party a year later, there is an account of life in Umbria as it is lived by the Italians.