Frances Mayes is the author of the modern classic Under the Tuscan Sun, which was a New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years and inspired the beloved motion picture starring Diane Lane. It was followed by Bella Tuscany, Every Day in Tuscany, and two illustrated books, In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home. She is also the author of A Year in the World, See You in the Piazza, Always Italy, and A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home. Her novels include Swan and Women in Sunlight. Her books have been translated into more than fifty languages.

Praise for A Great Marriage

"A grand love story with plenty of surprises . . . The pleasure of this book is in its rare combination of eloquent writing, human insights, and page-turning storytelling."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Mayes' talent for creating engaging, empathetic characters coping with the challenges of modern love is on full display in this supremely satisfying escapist love story."--Booklist​

Praise for Frances Mayes

"Beautiful, thought-provoking."--BookPage

"Vivid and heartfelt . . . [Mayes's] writing is infused with this rare communal quality."--Bookreporter

"Mayes delivers a soulful meditation. . . . Spellbinding . . . This rich testament to the pleasures of wanderlust and permanence is a gift."--Publishers Weekly

"Tuscany may have found its own bard in Frances Mayes."--The New York Times

"Those who want to find parts of themselves they didn't know existed, take risks, have an adventure . . . and discover another culture altogether, with its different rhythms, tastes, smells, and ways of being human--those readers will find in Mayes a kindly, eager, tough-spirited guide."--Houston Chronicle

"Mayes's writing about Italy is the next best thing to a plane ticket."--People

"Frances Mayes is, before all else, a wonderful writer. . . . She never loses sight of the fact that millenniums-old Tuscany, with its immemorial customs and folkways, is not to be domesticated or made familiar. Her Italy remains intransigently foreign, exotic, a continuing revelation of strangeness and unexpected beauties."--Chicago Tribune

"Mayes displays a gift for conveying everyday life through her writing . . . perfect for those with the yen but not the means for a second home . . . [and] presents a simpler, less frantic version of how to live one's life."--USA Today

"Mayes [has] perfect vision. . . . She has, by the sweat of her brow and the strength of her vision, become a layer in the history of this place."--Los Angeles Times

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Pub date: 2025-08-26

Length: 320 pages