This book was just OK for me. I struggled through much of it Many thanks to publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

I think it's really easy to be very jaded right now about other people doing fun things. The gentleness of this title was a great remedy to that.

Frances Mayes has really outdone herself! She has written an absolutely beautiful book about friends, food, family, and home -- wherever/whatever that may mean to each individual person. Her descriptions are luscious, decadent, but yet make a person feel like they’ve been wrapped in a warm blanket in front of a fire with a cup of hot cocoa to warm the hands! As she talks about her country farm in North Carolina with its beautiful gardens, just imagine the smell of flowers. As she describes her home in Tuscany, imagine tasting the flavors of onion, garlic, and olive oil drizzled over homemade pasta. And the gatherings with friends and family are magical with the sounds of lively discussion and the tinkling of wine glasses. How wonderful!

I thought this book was amazing, and I enjoyed the writing style and warmth of Frances Mayes so much. I highly recommend this book that stirs up such emotion!

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Frances Mayes, and Crown Publishing for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was okay, but it was not my favorite Frances Mayes book.

A Place in the World is like a Tuscan watercolor. It’s calming, soothing, and comforting. A deep look into what home and atmosphere means. Grounding and satisfying. A beautiful reminder to take a look around our own homes and places we visit, and to appreciate it. I can’t wait to try some of the recipes, too!

I've loved Frances Mayes' books ever since Under the Tuscan Sun. I've loved the vivid sense of "being there", wherever "there" was,..looking for shade and relief from the laser-like intensity of the sun, enjoying the restfulness of gentle rainfall, tasting things planted, nurtured, and lovingly harvested from one's own soil. I've enjoyed the sometimes quirky and often charming people Mayes has met and worked with. The frustrations and accomplishments. All of it.
"A Place in the World" conveys the experience of uprooting, the search in new places for that settling in the body that says "home". Her recipes are here and are very welcome. Reading this book is like sitting down with an old friend. It is not structured like most memoirs or other nonfiction, but is more of a melange. Food is a major theme, the experiences of living in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Tuscany, Mexico, and many other places, also huge. There doesn't seem to be a particular order in the chapters that I could see, but I experienced this book as a collection of letters one has saved from a beloved friend who has lived many places and savored life in each. Most recently, Mayes and her husband, Ed, have lived in North Carolina in a very old but charming house on thirty acres that require a great deal of work. There are pages of lists of bushes, trees, and flowers that have grown (records were kept by longtime previous owner) or are growing on Mayes' property...and many more that she plans to add. There are several outbuildings that she and Ed have converted to an art studio (Mayes hopes to dabble) and other whimsical uses.
I started "A Place in the World" with some confusion as to where it was going, but just settled back and enjoyed the moments.

What a whirlwind! I thought that this book would be more about finding home rather than house jumping across the globe. With run on sentences and an array of different topics and thoughts in one paragraph, I found I had to work to read this book. I could not even finish it. I wasn't interested in recipes or what happened at the beginning of time. The author to me seemed to be flaunting her lifestyle. Did not enjoy it. I thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing this read. I blame myself for picking it.

This was a good Frances Mayes book. For long-time readers there is fun new information about Bramasole. There was also little nuggets about Under the Tuscan Sun (the movie) that made me say ah, so that part was true! I did struggle a little bit because there seemed to be no real organization to the book. We started off talking about flowers and then this and then that, and it felt a little like just being lost in Mrs Mayes head, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but things were often repeated from one section to the next. Was still a delight to read!

I have always enjoyed Ms. Mayes books but this was a disappointment. It seemed like a jumbled compilation of stories, often told, with a lot of repetition. Not my favorite but maybe to new readers, because she is entertaining.

As always, Frances Mayes delivers a comforting, immersive and thoughtful read in A PLACE IN THE WORLD. Just the book to snuggle up with on a rainy summer afternoon--Traveling (and cooking) with Mayes from your armchair is always heaven.

Many thanks to Crown and to Netgalley for the pleasure of an early read.