Cover of Seasons in Basilicata

Book 2005

Seasons in Basilicata

4.01 2 readers shelved it

Publisher
Harper Perennial
Language
English
Published
2005
  • Social life and customs
  • Homes and haunts
  • Americans
  • Description and travel
  • History
  • Nonfiction
  • Travel
  • Italy, description and travel

Award-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns into an intriguing residency in the ancient hill village of Aliano, where Carlo Levi, author of the world-renowned memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, was imprisoned by Mussolini for anti-Fascist activities. As the Yeadons become immersed in Aliano's rich tapestry of people, traditions, and festivals, reveling in the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the culinary delights, and other peculiarities of place, they discover that much of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and other notable authors revealed still lurks beneath the beguiling surface of Basilicata.