In 1983, Annie Hawes and her sister Lucy, two young, single English lasses, accept employment as rose grafters on the Italian Riviera in the small town of Diano San Pietro. The fact that the author, Annie, knew nothing about rose grafting possibly reflects youth's eternal optimism. In any case, the rose season over, the two sisters are gently maneuvered by a crafty local into purchasing a derelict farmhouse amidst the olive groves above the town.

The book spans at least a decade's worth of memories, and it's not always clear when in that timespan a particular incident occurred. However, it doesn't matter. One of the delights of EXTRA VIRGIN is the personality of Annie. She comes across as a genuinely Nice Person, and with that dry British wit that I personally find so engaging. The reader is invited into her life as she and Lucy labor to refurbish their new home and tidy up - an understatement - their neglected garden and terraced olive groves. And, all the while, coping with the eccentricities, prejudices and habits of their Ligurian neighbors, and vice versa, as the two cultures meet and meld. By the end of the book, Annie and Lucy have successfully become an accepted part of their adopted community.

The book may drag a little in the last couple of chapters. Beforehand, however, we learn from Annie how olives are harvested and olive oil produced, as well as how local wine is made and mushrooms gathered. (The Italian love of food, in gargantuan quantities, is well portrayed.) And let's not forget the tales of the abandoned Morris, the matchless benefits of powdered lime, the water tank, and, during the tidying-up of the garden, the Snake...

I wish I could meet Annie. I think I'm a little in love with her.