The Stone Boudoir: Travels through the Hidden Villages of Sicily

Paperback - 06 May, 2003 - Perseus Publishing
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Teri Maggio and Theresa Maggio
ISBN: 0738208000

Buy this book from Amazon.com

List Price: ~~$14.95~~
Amazon.com Price: $9.72
You Save: $5.23

Other books you may find interesting

Reviews by readers

Pure Poetry

In The Stone Boudoir, Theresa Maggio has taken the fascination she has for the land of her grandparents and transmuted it into words of pure gold that vividly distill the essence of the Sicily she calls the "island's hidden treasure and the secret spring of Sicilian endurance."

The Sicily she goes in search of lies far beneath the radar of most guidebooks. In The Stone Boudoir, you will not find discussed, for example, Taormina, that once-mystical place now ruined by shops. Indeed, with the exception of Catania and, perhaps, Mondello (a suburb of Palermo), Maggio's discoveries are made in small towns, often high up on mountain tops and off the beaten track.

Each chapter of the book is a standalone essay - really a short story based on her explorations - and the fact that there is no discernable timeline connecting them all adds to the book's charm and eliminates what might otherwise be tedious and irrelevant backstory. Each story is a gem: the old people recall the night of the earthquake that destroyed the town from which Maggio's grandparents had emigrated; an old woman returns to the long-abandoned home of her childhood and finds a treasure; the author follows the two-day procession of a bejeweled effigy of a saint in Catania. The places in the stories sent me scurrying for my map of Sicily and wishing I were planning a trip there soon.

I had one small complaint about this book (hardback version): the endpapers are maps of Sicily colored dark blue with much detail in fine print; consequently, they are completely unreadable. A simpler, readable map showing the locations of the places mentioned in the book would be a welcome addition to any future edition.

But this is a small complaint about a book that gave me much pleasure. Brava, Theresa!

maybe (too) romantic but very good read

I am rather familiar with sicily,,,,therefore, although this book may (sometimes)verge on romantic times gone past, this is a VERY GOOD AND EASY READ. At least, i can relate easily to the passion with which the author narrates her genuine experiences in this land,,, It is also true that nowadays, within a few areas, some greed and bad decisions (called progress) have affected some areas adversely, but admitteldly, alot of effort is being made to reverse this.
A melting pot of culture, history, emotions, tradition, beautiful landscapes,,,this is Sicily. BUT this mixture MAY be a little bit of a challenge for some!

Boring and dull. Dull and boring.

I found this book to be flat, dull and boring and the authour to be rather self-congratulatory. The author travels from one small Sicilian town to another trying to ... do what? I dunno. I read every word, and she didn't have much to say about Sicily or her people except that she likes them. She really likes them!

As the series of vignettes progressed, it became difficult to follow any kind of time line. What happened when and with whom? Dunno. I am still unclear on how this book of little stories was organized, if indeed it was.

Finally, I don't know that I gleaned anything from the book except that the author really likes Sicily and she's really glad that she got to live there and she's really lucky that anyone would publish her book.

Top of page