Product Description

Joan Marble lived in a 16th century Roman Palazzo apartment with husband Robert, a sculptor, for thirty years. A lifetime of integrating with the Romans and gardening on her beloved terrace above the roof tops resulted in this entertaining memoir. Brimming with anecdote, history, and insight, Joan's experience of Rome and Romans is infected by her contagious fascination for plants, a hobby she shared every week with The Women's Gardening Club of Rome. She includes an insider's view of Italian fellow gardening obsessives, a tale of Bicycle Thieves, and an authoritative view of famous Italian Gardens. Tales abound of the expat community, and the illustrious writers and aristocrats with whom the author, as a journalist, kept company. Joan infuses her memoir with an affection for her plants, and scatters tips and personal stories of how to keep her fickle plants alive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #552775 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
Joan Marble has written a totally congenial if inconsequential account of ex-pat life in various apartments in Rome. Dotted with charming line drawings, anecdotes and tips about growing plants in pots, this Roman quilt of a book describes the minutiae of moving, right down to the mountaineering skills required to install a tap on the terrace. Indeed, the entirety is watered with droplets of Roman history and gardening lore. Eccentrics abound, as well as a street cat with the sense to ride the lift up five flights rather than climb the stairs to another ex-pat who puts out food. As an American-born denizen of central Rome, Marble has observed it struggle back to life from World War II, only to change from a sleepy village into a hectic metropolis invaded by traffic.

From the Back Cover
Joan Marble has lived in a sixteenth-century Roman palazzo apartment with her husband, Robert, a sculptor, for over forty years. From the vantage point of her beloved terrace above the city rooftops, among the lemon trees, agapanthus, amaryllis, and dahlias, Joan Marble has observed and mingled with the citizens of Rome, and in this warm and witty book she recounts the difficulties and joys of maintaining a garden high above the traffic and noise of the city. Woven amongst the garden lore are her informed views of everyday life in the city: of partying, politics and popes; of bicycle thieves, cat-catchers and gardening ladies.

This delightful and atmospheric account is layered with history and cultural knowledge, and scattered with serious green-fingered tips. Joan's tangible passion for her adopted home is fully revealed here, and will delight armchair gardeners and travellers alike.

About the Author
Joan Marble:
Joan Marble is a member of the Rome Garden Club and the Foreign Journalists' Association in Rome. Born in Boston and educated at Smith College, she wrote her first published article about the Rose Garden at the White House. Her book, Notes from an Italian Garden, told of how she created a garden in the hamlet of Canale just north of Rome. Her most recent book, Notes from a Roman Terrace is also published by Black Swan. She and her husband divide their time between Rome, Canale and London.

Customer Reviews

La Dolce Vita Redux
Joan Marble¹s new book "Notes from a Roman Terrace" is a must for every thinking woman's travel bag, whether or not you are bound for Italy. Her wry comments on Italian life and politics, seen from an insider-foreigner¹s point of view, spice up the idea of La Dolce Vita. Far more than a selective memoir of 50 years in Rome, she has the knack of informing while entertaining with wit and charm and a total lack of condescension so rare among writers about host countries. Too good for male consumption? Not in my experience!

A great read!
Joan Marble is a wonderful storyteller who takes us entertainingly through tales culled from almost 50 years of living in Rome. Since Joan started her career as a UPI journalist, this is not your usual book about the charming locals. It is a rather insightful and incisive look into the Italian lifestyle, the bureaucratic bungling and the social and political intrigues that make Italy what it is. Sprinkled throughout are some wonderful descriptions of some of the more unique Roman terrace gardens. Whether you love travel writing, sociology or just a cracking good read, this book is for you.

Good stuff
I had very much enjoyed Notes from an Italian Garden. This one is different and is more informative about Italy, life over there, what makes it pleasant and what makes it difficult.

I was expecting more gardening and interior decorating stories and tips, but thoroughly enjoyed all the anecdotes and items.

Much has been written and said about Rome and I have known people to be disappointed. This book makes you want to discover what goes on in everyday Roman life.

Ms Marble and her family are people I would like to meet when traveling!