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Up at the Villa: Travels With My Husband by Linda Dini Jenkins Great Little Books
book review by J Alpha
"If you've ever traveled with friends, or a group, or a significant other, you know about the serendipity, the necessary humor and the sense of discovery that are always present once you leave the security of home."
Part travelogue, part memoir, Up at the Villa: Travels With My Husband, by Linda Dini Jenkins will inspire readers to leave the security of home, as effectively as she leaves the security of the rigid structure of a traditional travel book, by choosing to travel to a higher literary ground with her beautifully illustrated personal collection of stories, essays, illustrations, photography, poetry, and even a sprinkling of family recipes.
Seasoned travelers will no doubt be drawn to Jenkins unique format in Up at the Villa, but it is her sincere passion, genuine wit, and welcoming tone that will rouse timid travels to travel along beside her as she explores Tuscany, Lombardy, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Brugge, and Paris, in addition to an array of destinations like Idaho Springs, Colorado, and the south Bronx—destinations she earnestly refers to as exotic places.
By seamlessly blending her emotional responses to her physical surroundings with practical advice that includes an Italian language and restaurant guide, as well as helpful hints for successfully traveling with a companion or in groups, Jenkins creates a memorable travelogue in ways photography or a traditional travel guide cannot convey.
Additionally, Jenkins eloquently captures the fundamental nature of the external and internal paths travelers ultimately navigate when they learn to be open to the unexpected elements and conflicts of traveling that can so often result in delightfully memorable experiences.
And parallel to Jenkins sharing of her geographical journeys, readers are privy to a second, perhaps even richer, crossing into her17-year love story—marriage—to Tim... a born Father Goose, friend, negotiator, manual transmission driver (on the other side of the street), expert maps reader, problem solver.
Whether the destination is a two-week journey through Italy, a day trip through the south Bronx in New York City, or a year of Sunday drives, it is Jenkins entertaining mix of an engaging narrative, vivid descriptions, and practical advice that translate her passion into the actionable theme of the joys of traveling.