Wandering Through Life

Theinternationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells herown adventurous life story as she enters her eighties In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, DonnaLeon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her thanbeen planned. Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, withfrequent visits to her grandfather's farm and its beloved animals, and summersspent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste ofthe classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed ayen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach Englishin Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landedin Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, fromher first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the huntfor the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing theirgrocery shopping at the Rialto Market. Some things remain constant throughoutthe decades: her adoration of opera, especially Handel's vocal music, heradvocacy for the environment, embodied in her passion for bees-which informsthe surprising crux of the Brunetti mystery in Earthly Remains. Yetas Leon inspects the cracks in the wall of a friend's bedroom, caused by vibrationsfrom the seven-story cruise ships making their way down Venice's canals, sheadmits regretfully that mass tourism has rendered the city less and lessappealing to its longtime chronicler. Having recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, Leon poignantlyconfronts the challenges of aging. Complete with a brief letter dissuadingthose hoping to meet Guido Brunetti at the Questura, and always suffused withmusic, food, and her fierce sense of humor, Wandering through Lifeoffers Donna Leon at her most personal.