'Tuscan Sun' Author Pens New Travelogue

NEW YORK - Frances Mayes is back with a new book that takes readers beyond the world she described so lovingly in "Under the Tuscan Sun" and on to other parts of Europe and the Mediterranean, from England to Morocco.

"A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller" (Random House, $26) chronicles a year Mayes spent traveling with her husband to sample the art, history, cuisine, landscapes and other aspects of local culture in nine countries. "I like to be the observer," she writes. "What makes these people who they are? Could I feel at home here?"

Mayes takes the reader along as she visits the Prado Museum in Madrid, the churches and cafes of Seville and the mosque in Cordoba. In Portugal, she stays in a "pousada" — a traditional hotel — and marvels at the variety of local soups. In Morocco, she is enchanted by the colors, spices and crafts of Fez, but her husband succumbs to a common traveler's ailment — food poisoning — after what seemed like a wonderful meal of tajine, the classic Moroccan stew.

In France, Mayes describes her literary pilgrimage to Burgundy in honor of Colette, and in Britain and Scotland, she visits gardens, churches and the Cotswolds, where her ancestors were born. From Naples, she pens a "love letter to food." A Mediterranean cruise takes her to Venice, Corfu, Delphi, Santorini and Turkey, where she goes rug-shopping. In Greece, she explores Crete and attends a feast celebrating a baptism, then goes sailing along the Turkish coast before heading back to Italy.

Mayes is a sophisticated traveler who soaks up the texture of every destination, then dashes off enticing descriptions loaded with everything from literary excerpts and menus to sociological analyses. But "A Year in the World" lacks the strong narrative that proved so charming in "Under the Tuscan Sun," where readers followed Mayes' travails as she purchased and renovated Bramasole, a 900-year-old house in picturesque Cortona.

What made "Tuscan Sun" so appealing was that it also described Mayes' efforts to savor the slower pace of life in Tuscany. In contrast, "A Year in the World" reads more like a series of journal entries from a very busy globe-trotter.

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