A Year in the World by Frances Mayes

At last - the long-awaited new travel memoir from the author of the international bestsellers Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany.

A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes - a celebration of the allure of travel, of unexpected pleasures found in unlikely places and a joyous sense of adventure and discovery.

Both a passionate traveller and the ideal travel companion, Mayes allows us to hitch a ride as she wanders off the beaten track and uncovers the hidden treasures of twelve new special places in the world. Along the way, she cooks up a storm in Portugal, follows Homer's voyage across the Aegean, revels in the good life in Santorini and hunkers down in a stone house draped with bougainvillea in Crete. In Turkey she sails the ancient coast, snorkels over sunken Byzantine towns and hikes to ancient archaeological sites. In Burgundy she makes a literary pilgrimage and gathers ideas in the gardens of Scotland and England. In Morocco, she explores the city of Fez, discovers the ideal place to live in Mantova - and much, much more.

Weaving together the simple pleasures of everyday life with fascinating insights into the history, culture and culinary delights of her temporary homes in the world, this is travel writing at its best.