The Umbrian Thursday Night Supper Club

I just loved this book. The relationships between these women, the connections with their community and their love of good food and wine make for a great read. I was transported to Italy as I read it and I have recommended it to many female friends. It's a very special book.

Having read several of these tales by Marlena De Blasi, I was expecting a similar format - wonderful stories of unique and enigmatic characters from the countryside along with the camaraderie around tables of tantalizing meals. And certainly, the detailed recipes. I found the background stories on each character too lengthy - each was more of a short story in itself. Took away from the development of the central story for too long. So the continuity was lost. And some of the dishes chosen to explain and prepare were not that appealing to me. Unlike other books where I was anxious to prepare the menus, no matter how complicated. Surely there are more delectable Italian creations with wider appeal that have not been chosen in previous novels. In spite of these minor objections, I found the book enjoyable and revealed more of a special part of Itlay. It was indeed an Italian feast.

LOVE all her books, they truly sing to my soul, she has such a magical way with words... there are only a few rules to the thursday night supper club, anyone who wants one brings their own napkin. humble or rich, always offer the best you have. when the candles are spent the evening is over. i am mourning the end of this book, i could have gladly glued my elbows to the table to keep hearing the amazing tales and recipes, traditional life is vanishing, step back into time and enjoy the harvest of umbria, it will feed you heart and soul.

I have read all of her books and really looked forward to this one from the standpoint of recipes and culinary ideas from the village. It bounced around too much between each women's past, but it was a good read. Left me wanting more about life in the village, but it was more about their relationships. I preferred all her previous novels much more.

I loved everything - plot, characters, recipes, style of writing!! A really delightful book to enjoy - not earthshaking but a total pleasure!!

This was a gift for my best friend, Kathy. It is a story of sharing good Italian food and recipes while lovingly listening to each other's live's tales. The evenings shared envelopes Marlene into the local history. Marlena De Blasi tells the story in her novel, but your live it in her words.

De Blasi writes the most sensuous episodes—-and it is all about food and cooking. If you liked her previous books about living in Italy, this is more of the same. She and her husband Fernando are now living in Orvieto, and she and four ladies from around the town prepare and eat dinner together in a rustic setting every Thursday evening. Amid the preparations, with plenty of wine and olive oil to go around, she teases out the life stories of her companions.

Once again Marlena de Blasi captivates with her revelations of life as she shares the stories of her Italian friends who make her “family”. Their history blends with the way they live—how they work, cook, love, and share. It’s a respect for life with its many joys and disappointments. What may seem ordinary events become rituals, preserved and cherished by these wise people. Oh, to sit at their rustica for the foraged Thursday feast, both for the food as well as the soul of living!

A delightful story and an invitation into some Italian cooking.

Wonderful book, beautifully written and the recipes will leave you drooling!! It's a story of unfolding friendships and a rural community slowly accepting and integrating a stranger. I loved every page and was so sad when I finished it! If you love food, Italy and beautiful writing, this is the book for you!

Really enjoyed this vook. It was different to what I expected bur none the worse for that. I enjoyed the recipies as well!!

Interesting but preferred the earlier books.

The book itself is a real treasure. I've just finished it and want to read it again straightaway! Unfortunately I can't say the same for the time it took to get it - don't know quite what happened but it took several emails to the supplier to chase them up - however as you can tell it evenutually arrived and it was worth the wait. :)