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Wandering through Life: A Memoir
The
internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her
own adventurous life story as she enters her eighties
In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna
Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than
been planned.
Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with
frequent visits to her grandfather’s farm and its beloved animals, and summers
spent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste of
the classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed a
yen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach English
in Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979
Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landed
in Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, from
her first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the hunt
for the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing their
grocery shopping at the Rialto Market. Some things remain constant throughout
the decades: her adoration of opera, especially Handel’s vocal music, her
advocacy for the environment, embodied in her passion for bees—which informs
the surprising crux of the Brunetti mystery in Earthly Remains. Yet
as Leon inspects the cracks in the wall of a friend’s bedroom, caused by vibrations
from the seven-story cruise ships making their way down Venice’s canals, she
admits regretfully that mass tourism has rendered the city less and less
appealing to its longtime chronicler.
Having recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, Leon poignantly
confronts the challenges of aging. Complete with a brief letter dissuading
those hoping to meet Guido Brunetti at the Questura, and always suffused with
music, food, and her fierce sense of humor, Wandering through Life
offers Donna Leon at her most personal.
internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her
own adventurous life story as she enters her eighties
In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna
Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than
been planned.
Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with
frequent visits to her grandfather’s farm and its beloved animals, and summers
spent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste of
the classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed a
yen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach English
in Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979
Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landed
in Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, from
her first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the hunt
for the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing their
grocery shopping at the Rialto Market. Some things remain constant throughout
the decades: her adoration of opera, especially Handel’s vocal music, her
advocacy for the environment, embodied in her passion for bees—which informs
the surprising crux of the Brunetti mystery in Earthly Remains. Yet
as Leon inspects the cracks in the wall of a friend’s bedroom, caused by vibrations
from the seven-story cruise ships making their way down Venice’s canals, she
admits regretfully that mass tourism has rendered the city less and less
appealing to its longtime chronicler.
Having recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, Leon poignantly
confronts the challenges of aging. Complete with a brief letter dissuading
those hoping to meet Guido Brunetti at the Questura, and always suffused with
music, food, and her fierce sense of humor, Wandering through Life
offers Donna Leon at her most personal.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published September 19, 2023
About the author
Donna Leon
134 books2,602 followersDonna Leon (born September 29, 1942, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the american military base of Vicenza (Italy) and a writer.
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not, by her request, into Italian. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000.
Series:
* Commissario Brunetti
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the american military base of Vicenza (Italy) and a writer.
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not, by her request, into Italian. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000.
Series:
* Commissario Brunetti
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
August 1, 2023
Wandering Through Life is aptly named. Leon refers numerous times to her lack of a life plan or higher purpose, her lack of ambition and her shiftless nature. She blames her nature on her mother, a carefree happy woman who passed her temperament on to Donna. Although I chuckled that someone that thinks of herself as lacking ambition has managed to write 32 books!
It’s not a typical memoir, more like a series of vignettes. Those who go in expecting a straightforward story of her life will be disappointed. Leon’s times teaching in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and on an American army base in Italy lend themselves to some interesting points about the various countries and the differences in American societal classes.
Of course, what most readers will be interested in is how she came to write about Italy, specifically Venice. Her description of Italy on her first visit “It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland: I was in a place where I did not understand much except that I knew I liked it.” But she doesn’t really write about her books or how she got started on Brunetti. (I did chuckle that Leon wrote a letter for the Questore to hand out to tourists that come looking for Brunetti.) I, for one, would have liked a chapter on what drew her to try her hand at writing and how she created her iconic character, Guido Brunetti. I was interested in the chapter on her research, for which she uses bees as an example, and its effects on her social life.
I found the book uneven. Some parts were fascinating; others I found myself skimming from boredom. For example, several of the vignettes are about Venice. I was less than impressed by reading about her friend constructing a gondola. The story of Artu, the singing dachshund, was at least humorous. But I was fascinated by the pollution and the destruction that the cruise ships are causing.
My thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of this book.
It’s not a typical memoir, more like a series of vignettes. Those who go in expecting a straightforward story of her life will be disappointed. Leon’s times teaching in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and on an American army base in Italy lend themselves to some interesting points about the various countries and the differences in American societal classes.
Of course, what most readers will be interested in is how she came to write about Italy, specifically Venice. Her description of Italy on her first visit “It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland: I was in a place where I did not understand much except that I knew I liked it.” But she doesn’t really write about her books or how she got started on Brunetti. (I did chuckle that Leon wrote a letter for the Questore to hand out to tourists that come looking for Brunetti.) I, for one, would have liked a chapter on what drew her to try her hand at writing and how she created her iconic character, Guido Brunetti. I was interested in the chapter on her research, for which she uses bees as an example, and its effects on her social life.
I found the book uneven. Some parts were fascinating; others I found myself skimming from boredom. For example, several of the vignettes are about Venice. I was less than impressed by reading about her friend constructing a gondola. The story of Artu, the singing dachshund, was at least humorous. But I was fascinated by the pollution and the destruction that the cruise ships are causing.
My thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of this book.
December 12, 2023
Donna Leon's memoir, Wandering through Life: A Memoir, was written while in her eighties. She is a well known fiction author of crime novels set in Venice, Italy. I am not familiar with her books but look forward to reading them.
She was born in Montclair, NJ and was teaching in Iran while obtaining her PhD when the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 caused her departure.
Memoir is my favorite genre, particularly of strong, independent women. I listened to this on audiobook; it is narrated by Suzanne Toren. It was an okay read with a pace that was slower than I prefer.
She was born in Montclair, NJ and was teaching in Iran while obtaining her PhD when the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 caused her departure.
Memoir is my favorite genre, particularly of strong, independent women. I listened to this on audiobook; it is narrated by Suzanne Toren. It was an okay read with a pace that was slower than I prefer.
April 17, 2024
I’ve been an avid reader of Donna Leon’s Venice based Commissario Brunetti mysteries for many years, reading all thirty two episodes and also passing many of them on to my late mum, who eagerly gobbled them up too. So when I spotted that she’d written a memoir, I was really keen to get hold of a copy at the earliest opportunity. But having read it, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. It certainly wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
What I was expecting - perhaps what I was hoping for – was something that would, at least in part, lead me through the journey the author went on whilst writing the Brunetti books: what inspired her, how she gathered information on how policing works in the city, what the catalyst for some of her stories was. In fact, there was only one short section that touched on these books, and this was only in passing.
Does this make it a bad book? No, of course not. Instead, there are many pleasant surprises here as we learn of the author’s early life in America and the wanderlust that subsequently took her all over the world, often at the drop of a hat and with no real means of supporting a lengthy trip abroad. The early sections are anecdotes from her youth, with a particular light shining on her truly inspiring mother, and focus then moves to some memorable episodes from her travels. Later, there are sections focussing on her discovery of Italy, a country she formed a lifelong love affair with, and also her home in Switzerland. Her last piece is a reflection on ageing; Donna has now turned eighty, and yet it’s clear she has adopted a constructive and pragmatic outlook in terms of where she is on her journey through life.
The book really feels like a random collection of memories and adventures but laid out in chronological order. Beyond her early years in America, there is actually very little here about Donna’s personal life, other than references to a number of friendships she built up over the years. The picture it paints is that of a person who has taken chances and been expansive in how she’s chosen to lead her life - a very full life. But it’s a relatively short book, and I just wish there had been more here about her writing. I enjoyed my time with it, but it does feel a bit like a meal that’s missing a course.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an early reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What I was expecting - perhaps what I was hoping for – was something that would, at least in part, lead me through the journey the author went on whilst writing the Brunetti books: what inspired her, how she gathered information on how policing works in the city, what the catalyst for some of her stories was. In fact, there was only one short section that touched on these books, and this was only in passing.
Does this make it a bad book? No, of course not. Instead, there are many pleasant surprises here as we learn of the author’s early life in America and the wanderlust that subsequently took her all over the world, often at the drop of a hat and with no real means of supporting a lengthy trip abroad. The early sections are anecdotes from her youth, with a particular light shining on her truly inspiring mother, and focus then moves to some memorable episodes from her travels. Later, there are sections focussing on her discovery of Italy, a country she formed a lifelong love affair with, and also her home in Switzerland. Her last piece is a reflection on ageing; Donna has now turned eighty, and yet it’s clear she has adopted a constructive and pragmatic outlook in terms of where she is on her journey through life.
The book really feels like a random collection of memories and adventures but laid out in chronological order. Beyond her early years in America, there is actually very little here about Donna’s personal life, other than references to a number of friendships she built up over the years. The picture it paints is that of a person who has taken chances and been expansive in how she’s chosen to lead her life - a very full life. But it’s a relatively short book, and I just wish there had been more here about her writing. I enjoyed my time with it, but it does feel a bit like a meal that’s missing a course.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an early reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 17, 2023
I do not typically read memoirs. However, I LOVE Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti police procedurals/mysteries set in Venice. I have read all thirty two of them. Naturally, I just had to read her memoir.
Written in her 80th year, and told through a series of vignettes, Leon recalls her very colorful history in the United States, teaching in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, and settling in Italy. A short book, I’m not going to try to detail the various accounts as I couldn’t possibly do them justice. Just know that she writes with humor and warmth about her quirky family (aren’t they all?), friends, and life in her adopted countries.
As in her novels, there are wonderful characterizations and sharp observations of life that are right on target.
Even if you have never read any of her books, you may well enjoy these slices of Leon’s life, specific to her, but also many that can be generalized to others.
On a personal level, I was particularly amused by the letter she has had to write for the Questura in Venice to hand to visitors who stop there wanting to see Brunetti and his colorful associates. I have to admit that the last time I was in Venice I spent an afternoon on my own Brunetti tour, visiting places that were scenes in the various novels and some of his favorite haunts. I didn’t invade the Questura, but stood on a nearby bridge for photos and, of course, stopped for a coffee and tramezzini.
Thanks to #netgalley and #groveatlantic #atlanticmonthlypress for the ARC.
Written in her 80th year, and told through a series of vignettes, Leon recalls her very colorful history in the United States, teaching in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, and settling in Italy. A short book, I’m not going to try to detail the various accounts as I couldn’t possibly do them justice. Just know that she writes with humor and warmth about her quirky family (aren’t they all?), friends, and life in her adopted countries.
As in her novels, there are wonderful characterizations and sharp observations of life that are right on target.
Even if you have never read any of her books, you may well enjoy these slices of Leon’s life, specific to her, but also many that can be generalized to others.
On a personal level, I was particularly amused by the letter she has had to write for the Questura in Venice to hand to visitors who stop there wanting to see Brunetti and his colorful associates. I have to admit that the last time I was in Venice I spent an afternoon on my own Brunetti tour, visiting places that were scenes in the various novels and some of his favorite haunts. I didn’t invade the Questura, but stood on a nearby bridge for photos and, of course, stopped for a coffee and tramezzini.
Thanks to #netgalley and #groveatlantic #atlanticmonthlypress for the ARC.
May 14, 2023
4.5★s
“The process of memory is odd, isn’t it? Do we remember things because we were there and saw them, or because we’ve been told them so often that they’ve been forced to become real?”
Wandering Through Life is a very aptly titled memoir by the award-winning American author of the Commissario Brunetti series, Donna Leon. It is presented in the format of thirty essays on a variety of topics. As she writes in her eightieth year, she has quite a life on which to look back.
Leon notes that even at eighty, orchestra and writing keep her occupied. She mentions Irish and Italian immigrant grandfathers, remembers living on her grandfather’s farm for a year at the age of seven.
She offers a variation on Tolstoy’s observation about families: “What families are each in their own way is weird.” She goes on to mention quirky aunts and uncles: a rumoured lover of Isadora Duncan; a card cheat; a plumber. She remembers her mother Mildred, known to all as Moo, a trusted keeper of secrets whose happiness she passed on to her children, and recalls her mother’s restless energy that contributed to an annual Halloween costume for the family dog, trick or treating.
Leon describes first learning to read, and discovering what became a lifelong fascination with, and love of language: “while still a child I had examples of the miraculous deceitfulness of written words that confuse with their sound and spoken words that seem to have the right to mean whatever they please. Because I am a native English speaker, this untrustworthiness is a source of delight, not frustration. Further, it seems to me that English, and the English, are much given to this sort of verbal nonsense.”
She shares amusing anecdotes about selling tomatoes to fund college, and her mother’s disastrous Christmas turkey. She confesses her love of Tosca, of Handel; and she has a moan about music pollution.
She describes the career path that ultimately brought her to Italy: four years of teaching English to trainee helicopter pilots in Iran in the late seventies, living under martial law, friendly and generous neighbours, and curfew pyjama parties and. Eventually, evacuation.
From there, teaching in China with daughters of loyal Party members as translators. Where she discovers her students’ Anglophone-writer-acquired prejudice against blacks and Jews, and their embarrassment over love sonnets.
Then to teaching in Saudi Arabia, where boredom leads to the creation, with her colleagues, of a board game, $audiopoly. In a country of no alcohol and no pork and where every Saudi student had to be passed regardless of academic ability, their customised game cards were a little subversive.
From teaching English to US Army recruits in Venice, Leon jumps to her first taste of Italy, a year with a college friend in which she fell in love with the people and the country.
In Venice she describes the search for the perfect cappuccino, an encounter with a lover of Wagner, being drawn to Handel’s Messiah through thick fog, a well-dressed, well-shod not-plumber, and the old Venetian matrons whose shopping technique takes a leaf out of a Prussian war writer’s book.
She tells of the ambitious build of a gondola by an American, and the detrimental effects on the city of the continuous engine vibration of exhaust-emitting cruise ships. She comments on post office efficiency, and her own criminal imagination of those she observes around her, and she shares a letter to Brunetti tourists that she was asked to write by the Questura.
Leon describes the joy of train trips and the food sharing that entails, her attachment to a feral cat, how her new garden led to a fascination with bees which meant inclusion into a novel; she fangirls Handel; and, finally, she muses on ageing. An interesting, occasionally thought-provoking, and entertaining read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.
“The process of memory is odd, isn’t it? Do we remember things because we were there and saw them, or because we’ve been told them so often that they’ve been forced to become real?”
Wandering Through Life is a very aptly titled memoir by the award-winning American author of the Commissario Brunetti series, Donna Leon. It is presented in the format of thirty essays on a variety of topics. As she writes in her eightieth year, she has quite a life on which to look back.
Leon notes that even at eighty, orchestra and writing keep her occupied. She mentions Irish and Italian immigrant grandfathers, remembers living on her grandfather’s farm for a year at the age of seven.
She offers a variation on Tolstoy’s observation about families: “What families are each in their own way is weird.” She goes on to mention quirky aunts and uncles: a rumoured lover of Isadora Duncan; a card cheat; a plumber. She remembers her mother Mildred, known to all as Moo, a trusted keeper of secrets whose happiness she passed on to her children, and recalls her mother’s restless energy that contributed to an annual Halloween costume for the family dog, trick or treating.
Leon describes first learning to read, and discovering what became a lifelong fascination with, and love of language: “while still a child I had examples of the miraculous deceitfulness of written words that confuse with their sound and spoken words that seem to have the right to mean whatever they please. Because I am a native English speaker, this untrustworthiness is a source of delight, not frustration. Further, it seems to me that English, and the English, are much given to this sort of verbal nonsense.”
She shares amusing anecdotes about selling tomatoes to fund college, and her mother’s disastrous Christmas turkey. She confesses her love of Tosca, of Handel; and she has a moan about music pollution.
She describes the career path that ultimately brought her to Italy: four years of teaching English to trainee helicopter pilots in Iran in the late seventies, living under martial law, friendly and generous neighbours, and curfew pyjama parties and. Eventually, evacuation.
From there, teaching in China with daughters of loyal Party members as translators. Where she discovers her students’ Anglophone-writer-acquired prejudice against blacks and Jews, and their embarrassment over love sonnets.
Then to teaching in Saudi Arabia, where boredom leads to the creation, with her colleagues, of a board game, $audiopoly. In a country of no alcohol and no pork and where every Saudi student had to be passed regardless of academic ability, their customised game cards were a little subversive.
From teaching English to US Army recruits in Venice, Leon jumps to her first taste of Italy, a year with a college friend in which she fell in love with the people and the country.
In Venice she describes the search for the perfect cappuccino, an encounter with a lover of Wagner, being drawn to Handel’s Messiah through thick fog, a well-dressed, well-shod not-plumber, and the old Venetian matrons whose shopping technique takes a leaf out of a Prussian war writer’s book.
She tells of the ambitious build of a gondola by an American, and the detrimental effects on the city of the continuous engine vibration of exhaust-emitting cruise ships. She comments on post office efficiency, and her own criminal imagination of those she observes around her, and she shares a letter to Brunetti tourists that she was asked to write by the Questura.
Leon describes the joy of train trips and the food sharing that entails, her attachment to a feral cat, how her new garden led to a fascination with bees which meant inclusion into a novel; she fangirls Handel; and, finally, she muses on ageing. An interesting, occasionally thought-provoking, and entertaining read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.
September 19, 2023
Varied life—in Venice and beyond.
How could one not be tempted by a look at Donna Leon’s life, the author of my favorite Venetian detective. A man who’s philosophical journeying must have something of his creator instilled in home.
‘Wandering Through Life’ is more a meander, with Leon’s journeys and reflections on things making for interesting a Window into her background.
However, back to Commissario Brunetti and my fascination, and can I say disbelief, that tourists have been plaguing the Questera of Venice looking for the fictional detective at the Polizia di Stato. Leon was called on to help. Which she did with her signature aplomb.
Leon’s life, her travels, and her disgruntlement with tourists all make for ready reading.
Short and descriptive chapters of life according to Leon, this memoir is a must for all fans.
A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
How could one not be tempted by a look at Donna Leon’s life, the author of my favorite Venetian detective. A man who’s philosophical journeying must have something of his creator instilled in home.
‘Wandering Through Life’ is more a meander, with Leon’s journeys and reflections on things making for interesting a Window into her background.
However, back to Commissario Brunetti and my fascination, and can I say disbelief, that tourists have been plaguing the Questera of Venice looking for the fictional detective at the Polizia di Stato. Leon was called on to help. Which she did with her signature aplomb.
Leon’s life, her travels, and her disgruntlement with tourists all make for ready reading.
Short and descriptive chapters of life according to Leon, this memoir is a must for all fans.
A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
September 14, 2023
I love Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series, so when I saw she published a memoir, I had to find out more about the creator of this awesome character. I had the benefit of watching an interview she she did about her memoir, so got a sense of her personality and I didn’t expect this book it to be a “tell all.” She has a great sense of humor - self deprecating, dry, and tongue in cheek - which is quite evident in her book. What was interesting was her approach to life and the jobs that took her to various countries. I imagine her keen insight into people, what motivates them, and her empathy for them - as she so aptly demonstrates in Brunetti series - has been greatly honed by her lived experiences. I enjoyed her wit and observations about people and how she’s lived her life, or at least what she shared in the book. While she shared somewhat about her personal life, I got the sense she held back a lot, which was just fine. I actually liked thot she didn’t overshare - she retained her personal privacy and mystique. While she is aware that time is marching on - she’ll be 81 years old in a couple of weeks - she’s hoping she has more on Guido Brunetti to come. I most certainly hope so too! Thanks Ms. Leon for the opportunity to peek a bit into the mind and life of Guido Brunetti’s creator! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
April 12, 2024
The first quarter was interesting and informative, the rest just rambles and didn't enlighten me one iota.
When did she learn Italian? How did she get such deep information about the Venetian police force?
What about her unmentioned private life, friends, travel adventures..... I can't even remember the 3-4 pages I just turned because they had nothing to do with Donna Leon, writing, life in general.
I was really disappointed.
When did she learn Italian? How did she get such deep information about the Venetian police force?
What about her unmentioned private life, friends, travel adventures..... I can't even remember the 3-4 pages I just turned because they had nothing to do with Donna Leon, writing, life in general.
I was really disappointed.
Read
January 23, 2024this is not a long-winded memoir, but rather a series of pieces of memories and reflections that stand out in nostalgia in the long and storied life of Donna Leon, author of the Commissario Brunetti series that solidified Venice as a noir site in the mystery-genre map. Pieces include tales about her childhood in her German-American grandfather's traditional farm, her youth as an aimless and wandering literature scholar pursuing the next fortuitous position in teaching appointments in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and finally Venice where she spent decades of residence. She was, as she put it, untroubled by pension plans or stable jobs and cast about for the next joyful adventure until she found in Italy a place of lingering enchantment. Donna is also brief and blunt in her opinions, a product partly perhaps of an observant profession and a solitary personality, so there are also uncurbed reflections on things such as the ground-thumping and wall-cracking and pool-polluting effects of the presence of cruise ships on Venice, and the toll of the footfall of 30 million annual tourists that led her to decide to depart from the city.
September 23, 2023
A memoir writing in the 'slice of life' style. I read her other memoir that she wrote a number of years ago. This one is much more accessible to her.
July 19, 2023
Sometimes it's hard to decide whether a book is a memoir or an autobiography. This time it's easy, it's right in the subtitle -- A Memoir. Aside from that obvious clue, there's the fact that Leon stays close to the amusing vignette lane, never venturing into difficult or revealing territory. She had a happy childhood and a series of adventures abroad in adulthood, but despite stays in Iran at the outset of the Revolution, an American military base in Italy at the end of the Cold War, and stints in China and Saudi Arabia teaching English, her life, as told in this book, has been a series of lucky breaks. There is little about her relationships with other people other than her mother and brother. She tells us about her love of opera and her fascination with bees. For fans of Donna Leon who want some pleasant after-dinner stories told by a favorite author, this will fill the bill. Those hoping to find insight into the person or a glimpse into the working life of a writer, may be disappointed. Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for a digital review copy.
September 30, 2023
Author Donna Leon is specifically known as the best-selling author of one of the most beloved and enduring crime series in the world --- the Commissario Guido Brunetti novels set in the wonderous city of Venice, Italy. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is her first memoir about her own life and, in typical Leon fashion, is put together in a very original way.
It follows chronological order but is unpacked for readers in the former of mini vignettes rather than your typical traditional bio work. The most wonderful thing about it is that her faithful legion of readers will finally be able to get a glimpse behind Leon’s persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that took her to the world of best-selling crime fiction.
Now, at age eighty-one, Leon felt the need to look backwards and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane. One theme that clearly jumps off of the page is Leon’s love of reading and literature, as this memoir is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about the family she was raised with by comparing them to a quote from Anna Karenina about happy families being the same and unhappy ones being unhappy in their own way.
She refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters that have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens like the infamous Uriah Heep. Leon’s childhood was a happy one and she particularly remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age with childhood classics like The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood being personal favorites.
Her love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the Opera Tosca, which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of NYC on a family farm like the one her mother was raised at. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls her mother taking her to the library and reading to her from books by great authors such as Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, Ross MacDonald, Ruth Rendell, and Fielding. It is easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.
As a young woman, Donna Leon taught English Language abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures and this gave her the desire to always travel and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated to and based her beloved long-standing series within.
While in Venice, Leon became enamored with the gondola as a form of transportation --- one which Guido Brunetti often finds himself on when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. It was when she was living in Venice that Leon wrote an introduction that is still posted at the local Questura for travelers who might venture there to get a look at the place their beloved fictional detective Guido Brunetti worked at. I would give anything to be able to experience that welcome letter!
Leon now finds herself living primarily in Switzerland but still spends time in Italy. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks on author Donna Leon while still maintaining enough of a distance to still give readers plenty of secrets still to be uncovered about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel which is always a perennial favorite task of mine.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
It follows chronological order but is unpacked for readers in the former of mini vignettes rather than your typical traditional bio work. The most wonderful thing about it is that her faithful legion of readers will finally be able to get a glimpse behind Leon’s persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that took her to the world of best-selling crime fiction.
Now, at age eighty-one, Leon felt the need to look backwards and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane. One theme that clearly jumps off of the page is Leon’s love of reading and literature, as this memoir is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about the family she was raised with by comparing them to a quote from Anna Karenina about happy families being the same and unhappy ones being unhappy in their own way.
She refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters that have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens like the infamous Uriah Heep. Leon’s childhood was a happy one and she particularly remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age with childhood classics like The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood being personal favorites.
Her love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the Opera Tosca, which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of NYC on a family farm like the one her mother was raised at. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls her mother taking her to the library and reading to her from books by great authors such as Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, Ross MacDonald, Ruth Rendell, and Fielding. It is easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.
As a young woman, Donna Leon taught English Language abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures and this gave her the desire to always travel and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated to and based her beloved long-standing series within.
While in Venice, Leon became enamored with the gondola as a form of transportation --- one which Guido Brunetti often finds himself on when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. It was when she was living in Venice that Leon wrote an introduction that is still posted at the local Questura for travelers who might venture there to get a look at the place their beloved fictional detective Guido Brunetti worked at. I would give anything to be able to experience that welcome letter!
Leon now finds herself living primarily in Switzerland but still spends time in Italy. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks on author Donna Leon while still maintaining enough of a distance to still give readers plenty of secrets still to be uncovered about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel which is always a perennial favorite task of mine.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
October 21, 2023
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Wandering through Life is a thoughtful and well written memoir by Donna Leon. Released 19th Sept 2023 by Grove Atlantic, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
Donna Leon has enjoyed remarkable longevity as an author, and a wonderfully broad number of different careers over the 8 decades of her well-lived life. This is a meandering and unhurried series of vignettes detailing some of her experiences. Biography fans who look forward to facts and dates will have to dig a bit deeper; this volume is presented as a series of recollections, gathered loosely thematically: America (early life), wandering the globe, Italy, and later experiences living in Switzerland and elsewhere.
The pacing is very slow, meandering, and full of reminiscence. She writes with wit and humor about her long life and career as an author.
Four stars. Enjoyable, especially for readers who are already fans. It would make a good choice for gifting or public library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
Wandering through Life is a thoughtful and well written memoir by Donna Leon. Released 19th Sept 2023 by Grove Atlantic, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
Donna Leon has enjoyed remarkable longevity as an author, and a wonderfully broad number of different careers over the 8 decades of her well-lived life. This is a meandering and unhurried series of vignettes detailing some of her experiences. Biography fans who look forward to facts and dates will have to dig a bit deeper; this volume is presented as a series of recollections, gathered loosely thematically: America (early life), wandering the globe, Italy, and later experiences living in Switzerland and elsewhere.
The pacing is very slow, meandering, and full of reminiscence. She writes with wit and humor about her long life and career as an author.
Four stars. Enjoyable, especially for readers who are already fans. It would make a good choice for gifting or public library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
July 22, 2023
Comissario Brunetti is one of my favorite mystery characters, and for years I enthusiastically followed him on the streets of Venice. So when I learned that Donna Leon wrote a memoir, I got excited to learn more about the woman who created not only Brunetti but also Paula, Signorina Elettra, Vianello, and Patta. I knew she was an American living in Venice, and she had been living my dream. Venice is one city that enchanted me the first time I went there. Even with crowds of tourists, I could easily imagine myself wandering the streets, drinking coffee, checking the hidden places, getting lost in narrow streets only to finally get to the Grand Canal and look at its beauty again. And then… the history. What can be told of a city that brought us Casanova?
Donna Leon starts her memoir fondly recalling one year when her family moved to a small house on the farm, then proceeds to the next phase of her life: the university years, first studying, then teaching. She was a curious, adventurous young woman who loved exploring new places and countries, not as a tourist but as a temporary resident. She spent almost four years living and teaching in Iran and then moved to China to teach English. And then, Donna happily agreed when her Italian-American friend Anita suggested she join her to go to Italy because she would study there. It's important to know that Donna Leon's roots are Irish, Latin American, and German. Her blood shows no trace of Italian heritage; her love for Italy is evident.
This is a memoir for people who don't want to read long, chronological stories about someone's life, no matter how interesting the person can be. "Wandering through Life" consists of essays, and such a format reads almost like a friendly conversation with the author. I especially enjoyed the story about the challenges of going to the Italian post office and another describing the older women at Italian stores "waiting" in a queue. They offered me a glimpse into everyday Italy and did it better than lengthy descriptions.
And then, after the charming and often touching pieces, Donna Leon addresses the subject of getting old at the end of her beautiful memoir. The last pages are filled with wisdom, as only "wandering through life" with one's eyes – and heart – open can bring.
Donna Leon starts her memoir fondly recalling one year when her family moved to a small house on the farm, then proceeds to the next phase of her life: the university years, first studying, then teaching. She was a curious, adventurous young woman who loved exploring new places and countries, not as a tourist but as a temporary resident. She spent almost four years living and teaching in Iran and then moved to China to teach English. And then, Donna happily agreed when her Italian-American friend Anita suggested she join her to go to Italy because she would study there. It's important to know that Donna Leon's roots are Irish, Latin American, and German. Her blood shows no trace of Italian heritage; her love for Italy is evident.
This is a memoir for people who don't want to read long, chronological stories about someone's life, no matter how interesting the person can be. "Wandering through Life" consists of essays, and such a format reads almost like a friendly conversation with the author. I especially enjoyed the story about the challenges of going to the Italian post office and another describing the older women at Italian stores "waiting" in a queue. They offered me a glimpse into everyday Italy and did it better than lengthy descriptions.
And then, after the charming and often touching pieces, Donna Leon addresses the subject of getting old at the end of her beautiful memoir. The last pages are filled with wisdom, as only "wandering through life" with one's eyes – and heart – open can bring.
December 13, 2023
An intriguing look into the life of one of my favourite mystery writers.
April 7, 2024
Essays on snippets of her life, truly wanderings as the title says. I enjoyed the audiobook, but wanted more Italy! More 3,5 stars but rounded up for the sheer coolness of the cover.
November 23, 2023
In WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, Donna Leon tells the personal and extremely interesting story of her life in a delightful manner. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect as she grows and moves around the globe.
She describes her family’s background and her early childhood in New Jersey. Her German grandfather made it a condition of employment on his farm that the itinerant men he hired gave him 25% of their salaries, which he sent back to their families.
In another chapter she describes the clever way her brother saved a lot of money when the apartment building he managed switched from oil burners to gas heat.
She notes that children don’t recognize the weirdness in their own families. They are too busy observing and learning.
When she discovered discovering that words could mean different things as opposed to objects which like a bicycle moves forward and a ball runs downhill she became enthralled with words.
She later taught English in Iran and was there when the Shah was overthrown. She and her friends created a game they called $audioply to play when they were caught after hours and could not be outside. They referred to it as “a bored game.” When she left Iran, the government confiscated all her papers, including the final draft of her doctoral dissertation on the changing moral order in the world of Jane Austen‘s novels. She decided to not continue her studies.
In 1979, she became a professor of English literature in China. The students had many misconceptions, particularly about Blacks and Jews. Considering they had never met anyone from those groups, she realized it was the most likely result of what did they’d read from Anglophone writers.
She gave a lecture about the stock market. The students were stunned with the idea of private property and companies, buying stock, and profiting without working.
Eventually she arrived in Italy where she fell in love with the people and the country and made it her home.
Leon discusses Italian war through the perspective of little, old Italian women. Their mission is to cut in to the front of the line at stores and markets. She explains their strategy, the reaction of other people who were in line ahead of them, and how they respond to not being able to complete their mission. At the end, she offers a reason for their actions: Consider for a moment, how little honor and renown left these women as they move toward the end of their lives; consider a shrunken are there, battlefields, or once, in the youth in their prime, they could do come badge in search of respect and power. Strength gone, perhaps, widowed or living alone, they’re forced to use other means to obtain victory.
She explains the difference on a train between authors and traditional passengers. The passengers see the landscape and the tunnel ahead of them. The author imagines what disaster can happen in the tunnel.
When an author wants to write about a topic, they do a lot of research first. Her chapter about bees is a fantastic example.
It was a pleasure to read the very untypical story of how one of my favorite authors, Donna Leon, came to be the person she is.
She describes her family’s background and her early childhood in New Jersey. Her German grandfather made it a condition of employment on his farm that the itinerant men he hired gave him 25% of their salaries, which he sent back to their families.
In another chapter she describes the clever way her brother saved a lot of money when the apartment building he managed switched from oil burners to gas heat.
She notes that children don’t recognize the weirdness in their own families. They are too busy observing and learning.
When she discovered discovering that words could mean different things as opposed to objects which like a bicycle moves forward and a ball runs downhill she became enthralled with words.
She later taught English in Iran and was there when the Shah was overthrown. She and her friends created a game they called $audioply to play when they were caught after hours and could not be outside. They referred to it as “a bored game.” When she left Iran, the government confiscated all her papers, including the final draft of her doctoral dissertation on the changing moral order in the world of Jane Austen‘s novels. She decided to not continue her studies.
In 1979, she became a professor of English literature in China. The students had many misconceptions, particularly about Blacks and Jews. Considering they had never met anyone from those groups, she realized it was the most likely result of what did they’d read from Anglophone writers.
She gave a lecture about the stock market. The students were stunned with the idea of private property and companies, buying stock, and profiting without working.
Eventually she arrived in Italy where she fell in love with the people and the country and made it her home.
Leon discusses Italian war through the perspective of little, old Italian women. Their mission is to cut in to the front of the line at stores and markets. She explains their strategy, the reaction of other people who were in line ahead of them, and how they respond to not being able to complete their mission. At the end, she offers a reason for their actions: Consider for a moment, how little honor and renown left these women as they move toward the end of their lives; consider a shrunken are there, battlefields, or once, in the youth in their prime, they could do come badge in search of respect and power. Strength gone, perhaps, widowed or living alone, they’re forced to use other means to obtain victory.
She explains the difference on a train between authors and traditional passengers. The passengers see the landscape and the tunnel ahead of them. The author imagines what disaster can happen in the tunnel.
When an author wants to write about a topic, they do a lot of research first. Her chapter about bees is a fantastic example.
It was a pleasure to read the very untypical story of how one of my favorite authors, Donna Leon, came to be the person she is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2024
Lovely book on a life well lived
I have enjoyed reading every book that Donna Leon has written and published and this Memoir is wonderful, just like having Donna Leon seated next to you, sharing a glorious conversation.
I have enjoyed reading every book that Donna Leon has written and published and this Memoir is wonderful, just like having Donna Leon seated next to you, sharing a glorious conversation.
December 12, 2023
An enjoyable read, this book was a series of vignettes drawn from her observations & experiences but I don’t know much more about the author herself. I’d have especially liked to read more about her decades living in Venice (she moved to Switzerland to escape the tourist hordes), & of course about her writing. She’s 81 & I wish her a very long life & the writing of many more Commissario Brunetti books, probably my favorite character in literature.
June 15, 2023
“Wandering Through Life” is an aptly named and interesting memoir. The reader should keep in mind that it is composed of a series of vignettes (as indicated by the publisher’s description) because it does jump from topic to topic, although moving in a roughly chronological fashion. It does not cover everything that has happened in the author’s life and I think that some readers are going to be disappointed by this. I found the vignettes (chapters) a bit uneven; some were fascinating but others less so. I loved many of her descriptions about teaching in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, and the insight that she gained as an American, as a woman, and as an educator in these places. I also loved many of her anecdotes about life in Italy, although some seemed unfinished. However, I wish that there was more discussion about the “Guido Brunetti” series of books that she is best known for (there is really just one chapter). I was left with the sense that she didn’t want to say much more, and while I understand that some authors do not want to over-explain their characters I was left without much of an idea as to how she became a writer and why she wrote this series. She has a lot to say about being a teacher of English literature and a bit to say about her curiosity and imagination, especially connected to envisioning criminal activity, but nothing about why she started to write and wrote what she did. I was left wanting more and I think that many longtime Brunetti fans will be as well, but I did enjoy what she did share. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book before publication.
May 25, 2023
Donna Leon, author of the popular mystery series featuring detective Guido Brunetti, tells her own life story here, which is as wonderous and exciting as any Brunetti book she has written. As a child of seven, she lived on her grandfather’s farm where she thought it wonderful when chickens ran around with their heads cut off during slaughter time (although it sounds grotesque to her now) and tells of the shock she felt when she watched pigs being slaughtered (since they gave them names, scratched behind their ears, laughed at their wallowing). Then, there is her first day of school, not realizing that going along with her older brother to school was to be her first day of school. She cried and screamed as her mother drove off in the car. There is a whole cast of characters in her family……her mother who chain smoked, loved a drink; her mother’s three aunts who lived together in a twelve-room house; Uncle Joe the plumber. From teaching English in Iran, China, to creating the board game, $audiopoly, you’ll find out about the cast of characters in Leon’s personal life and what she is up to, now that she is in her eighties.
October 1, 2023
Donna Leon is the bestselling author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti novels, one of the world’s most beloved and enduring crime series, set in the wondrous city of Venice, Italy.
Now Leon has penned a memoir, WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, that is put together in a very original way. It is told chronologically but is unpacked in the form of mini-vignettes. Fans of her work finally will get a glimpse behind her persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that drew her to crime fiction. Now in her 80s, Leon felt the need to look backwards, and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane.
One theme that clearly jumps off the page is her love of reading and literature, as the book is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about her family with a quote from ANNA KARENINA: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leon refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters who have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens, such as the infamous Uriah Heep. Her childhood was a happy one, and she remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age. Her personal favorites included THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF and LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.
Leon’s love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the opera "Tosca," which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of New York City on a family farm much like the one where her mother was raised. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls going to the library with her mother, who enjoyed reading books by such authors as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Ross Macdonald and Ruth Rendell. It’s easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.
As a young woman, Leon taught English abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures, which gave her the desire to travel regularly and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated and set her iconic series.
While in Venice, Leon became enamored of the gondola as a form of transportation. It’s no coincidence that Guido Brunetti often finds himself on a gondola when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. Leon wrote an amusing letter that is still posted at the local Questura to travelers hoping to meet her fictional detective. I would give anything to be able to experience this!
WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks of Leon's life while maintaining enough of a distance so that readers still will have plenty to learn about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel, which cannot come fast enough.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
Now Leon has penned a memoir, WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, that is put together in a very original way. It is told chronologically but is unpacked in the form of mini-vignettes. Fans of her work finally will get a glimpse behind her persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that drew her to crime fiction. Now in her 80s, Leon felt the need to look backwards, and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane.
One theme that clearly jumps off the page is her love of reading and literature, as the book is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about her family with a quote from ANNA KARENINA: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leon refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters who have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens, such as the infamous Uriah Heep. Her childhood was a happy one, and she remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age. Her personal favorites included THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF and LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.
Leon’s love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the opera "Tosca," which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of New York City on a family farm much like the one where her mother was raised. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls going to the library with her mother, who enjoyed reading books by such authors as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Ross Macdonald and Ruth Rendell. It’s easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.
As a young woman, Leon taught English abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures, which gave her the desire to travel regularly and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated and set her iconic series.
While in Venice, Leon became enamored of the gondola as a form of transportation. It’s no coincidence that Guido Brunetti often finds himself on a gondola when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. Leon wrote an amusing letter that is still posted at the local Questura to travelers hoping to meet her fictional detective. I would give anything to be able to experience this!
WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks of Leon's life while maintaining enough of a distance so that readers still will have plenty to learn about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel, which cannot come fast enough.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
November 30, 2023
Donna Leon, Wandering through Life A Memoir, Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press, September 2023.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
I thoroughly enjoy the sharp, witty, intellectual approach Donna Leon takes to her detective novels. This book is less sharp, and indeed, ‘wandering’ is an important description of the memoir. Although chronological, these almost stand-alone essays lack the strength exhibited by Leon in her fiction. I have to admit, give me Guido Brunetti and his exploits any day! However, although I was somewhat disappointed when I began reading the memoir, as I became accustomed to the style my feelings mellowed, and I began to enjoy reading the background to the writer of well-loved detective stories. Leon’s explanation that Brunetti cannot be found in Italy because of the tourists who look for him attests to the immediacy of the novels. To enjoy the memoir, forget their clarity, and take pleasure in beginning to wander.
The chapters on Leon’s early life were interesting enough but not compelling. Where I began to really take note and think about the life she has led was in the later chapters where she teaches English in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. There is some wonderful material here, witty commentary at times, and underlying her descriptions recognition that others’ experiences would be vastly different. It is Leon’s story, so she does not dwell too heavily on these, but does give some attention the lives of Iranian, Chinese and Saudi citizens to show she is on the periphery of other worlds, those that she does not enter.
Wandering through Life A Memoir is at its best when Leon is writing about Italy. Here Brunetti’s experiences and the wit Leon uses when writing about these is more apparent. For these chapters alone this book is worth reading.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
I thoroughly enjoy the sharp, witty, intellectual approach Donna Leon takes to her detective novels. This book is less sharp, and indeed, ‘wandering’ is an important description of the memoir. Although chronological, these almost stand-alone essays lack the strength exhibited by Leon in her fiction. I have to admit, give me Guido Brunetti and his exploits any day! However, although I was somewhat disappointed when I began reading the memoir, as I became accustomed to the style my feelings mellowed, and I began to enjoy reading the background to the writer of well-loved detective stories. Leon’s explanation that Brunetti cannot be found in Italy because of the tourists who look for him attests to the immediacy of the novels. To enjoy the memoir, forget their clarity, and take pleasure in beginning to wander.
The chapters on Leon’s early life were interesting enough but not compelling. Where I began to really take note and think about the life she has led was in the later chapters where she teaches English in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. There is some wonderful material here, witty commentary at times, and underlying her descriptions recognition that others’ experiences would be vastly different. It is Leon’s story, so she does not dwell too heavily on these, but does give some attention the lives of Iranian, Chinese and Saudi citizens to show she is on the periphery of other worlds, those that she does not enter.
Wandering through Life A Memoir is at its best when Leon is writing about Italy. Here Brunetti’s experiences and the wit Leon uses when writing about these is more apparent. For these chapters alone this book is worth reading.
August 25, 2023
Donna Leon is the popular author of 32 novels featuring Guido Brunetti, a Commissario di Polizia of the City of Venice. Trebitsch Produktion has adapted 26 of those books for German television.
For 30 years Leon lived in Venice. She now lives in Switzerland and the reason for this move is given in this memoir.
Leon was born in 1942 just south of New York, in the state of New Jersey. Her parents were Catholic and had strong leanings towards the Democratic Party. Her paternal grandfather was born in Latin America and her mother’s father in Germany.
Her family was eccentric, a fact she only realised when she started meeting other children’s parents and their relatives. The stories she tells had me laughing out loud. Her father’s uncle married Florence who ‘bore a frightening resemblance to a horse’ and was ‘significantly less intelligent than one’. Henry was their Japanese cook, an unseen presence, who was said to be in the kitchen, though ‘none of us ever laid eyes on him’.
After university, Leon accepted teaching jobs in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia, eventually ending up at a United States army base situated an hour’s drive from Venice.
Opera is a major leisure pursuit. Top of her list of best-loved composers is Handel. For many years, until his death in 2020, Leon was friendly with Peter Jonas, a fellow lover of Handel’s music, manager of the English National Orchestra and a talented raconteur. When he was very young he attended a Benedictine boys’ boarding school which he described as a gulag with a crucifix in every room.
'Wandering Through Life' has short chapters, less than 200 pages and is ideal for fans of the Brunetti series who’d like to know more about its author.
March 16, 2024
As I’m a huge Inspector Brunetti fan, I was really looking forward to reading this memoir of Donna Leon, the author that created this wonderful Venetian detective character. I know very little about Leon and hoped that this book would provide ample biographical information and give me insight as to who is this woman.
The book is divided in 4 parts: America, On the Road, Italy, and In the Mountains. Within each part are vignettes or highlights about her life.
Much to my surprise, Leon’s memoir was very disappointing. Although I enjoyed the parts about her childhood in New Jersey, her teaching adventures in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia, and her life in Venice, overall I felt short changed. Is that all she had to say? Really? I should have seen the red flag: the book barely totals 200 pages.
The chapters in the beginning of the book are more interesting than those at the end. She devotes one chapter to bees which I found so tedious. I skipped the chapter about her cat Tigger. Her memoir is an easy read and quick romp. She glosses over her life, giving readers tiny morsels that fail to feed the curious mind. I feel so unsatisfied.
There is nothing in her memoir about her writing. Here this woman created a wonderful character, Guido Brunetti, brilliantly immerses readers in beautiful Venice, and takes us on exciting journeys solving murders and other crimes, and she has nothing to share about how she, an English teacher, became a writer and what inspired her to do so. How did the character Brunetti come to be? Nothing about her writing process, difficulties, triumphs, research, etc.
My impression is that Leon doesn’t want her fans to know much about her and is a private person. Why write a memoir then if you don’t want to reveal yourself in depth.
The book is divided in 4 parts: America, On the Road, Italy, and In the Mountains. Within each part are vignettes or highlights about her life.
Much to my surprise, Leon’s memoir was very disappointing. Although I enjoyed the parts about her childhood in New Jersey, her teaching adventures in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia, and her life in Venice, overall I felt short changed. Is that all she had to say? Really? I should have seen the red flag: the book barely totals 200 pages.
The chapters in the beginning of the book are more interesting than those at the end. She devotes one chapter to bees which I found so tedious. I skipped the chapter about her cat Tigger. Her memoir is an easy read and quick romp. She glosses over her life, giving readers tiny morsels that fail to feed the curious mind. I feel so unsatisfied.
There is nothing in her memoir about her writing. Here this woman created a wonderful character, Guido Brunetti, brilliantly immerses readers in beautiful Venice, and takes us on exciting journeys solving murders and other crimes, and she has nothing to share about how she, an English teacher, became a writer and what inspired her to do so. How did the character Brunetti come to be? Nothing about her writing process, difficulties, triumphs, research, etc.
My impression is that Leon doesn’t want her fans to know much about her and is a private person. Why write a memoir then if you don’t want to reveal yourself in depth.
October 2, 2023
“Wandering Through Life,” by Donna Leon, is marketed as a memoir. However, it is actually a collection of essays about such topics as Leon’s childhood, musical tastes, love of travel, and affinity for Venice, where she lived for three decades. Surprisingly, Leon says little about the series that made her famous—her thirty-two crime novels that feature the literate, compassionate, and insightful Commissario Guido Brunetti.
In this slim volume, Leon discusses her passion for reading and admits that she becomes obsessed with subjects that intrigue her. For instance, she writes eloquently about bees, those fascinating and productive insects who are an essential part of our ecosystem. In addition, Ms. Leon is a devotee of the composer Handel, whose works have moved her to tears. Leon has taught English in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Italy, and might have finished her doctorate had her dissertation not been confiscated by the Iranian government.
Leon’s prose style is concise and charming. We feel as if we are sitting on a couch in her living room, listening to her chat about whatever strikes her fancy. She does not take herself too seriously and, having just turned eighty-one, remains engaged with her friends, appreciates the wonders of nature, and is outspoken about what annoys her (Wagner’s music, pushy shoppers, and cruise ships that are ruining Venice). Although “Wandering Through Life” is entertaining, it might have had a greater impact had this talented author—who clearly values her privacy—had been a bit more candid about her writing career and personal life.
In this slim volume, Leon discusses her passion for reading and admits that she becomes obsessed with subjects that intrigue her. For instance, she writes eloquently about bees, those fascinating and productive insects who are an essential part of our ecosystem. In addition, Ms. Leon is a devotee of the composer Handel, whose works have moved her to tears. Leon has taught English in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Italy, and might have finished her doctorate had her dissertation not been confiscated by the Iranian government.
Leon’s prose style is concise and charming. We feel as if we are sitting on a couch in her living room, listening to her chat about whatever strikes her fancy. She does not take herself too seriously and, having just turned eighty-one, remains engaged with her friends, appreciates the wonders of nature, and is outspoken about what annoys her (Wagner’s music, pushy shoppers, and cruise ships that are ruining Venice). Although “Wandering Through Life” is entertaining, it might have had a greater impact had this talented author—who clearly values her privacy—had been a bit more candid about her writing career and personal life.
September 20, 2023
Readers of my blog know that I am a great fan of Leon’s Brunetti series of Venice-set mysteries. Both the books and the TV series have been so enjoyable. (The TV show episodes got me through some of the early days of Covid. I found Brunetti having dinner looking out at the canals so grounding in that time.) I love the character that she has developed in him; Brunetti sees so much corruption yet remains a good man, a good husband, a good father and a good friend. I have found the books to be ones that I am always eager to read.
That said, Wandering Through LIfe is not chefly about Brunetti, but rather about Brunetti’s creator. In these pages, Leon shares stories about her own life. I enjoyed getting to know her and her wandering ex-pat life, though to be fair, she spent many years in Italy. Leon has lived in a many places including the U.S. (with time on a farm), Iran, and, some other countries as well. In her 9th decade, she now lives in Switzerland.
This book has chapters of varying lengths. They cover many facets of Leon’s life. Keep an eye out for the story of Leon’s doctoral dissertation. It is just one of many interesting stories that are contained within these pages. This is a lovely and lively memoir and one that it is easy to recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this title. All opinions are my own.
That said, Wandering Through LIfe is not chefly about Brunetti, but rather about Brunetti’s creator. In these pages, Leon shares stories about her own life. I enjoyed getting to know her and her wandering ex-pat life, though to be fair, she spent many years in Italy. Leon has lived in a many places including the U.S. (with time on a farm), Iran, and, some other countries as well. In her 9th decade, she now lives in Switzerland.
This book has chapters of varying lengths. They cover many facets of Leon’s life. Keep an eye out for the story of Leon’s doctoral dissertation. It is just one of many interesting stories that are contained within these pages. This is a lovely and lively memoir and one that it is easy to recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this title. All opinions are my own.
March 21, 2024
I am a big fan of Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti books, based in Venice. A while ago I heard her interviewed, and she said that she doesn't know at the start of a book how it is going to end. I found this immensely cheering, as I was in the midst of trying to write a book myself and had no idea where it was going. (It didn't go anywhere, in the end.)
In this memoir Donna Leon mentions that she is 'feckless' and not a planner, going where chance leads her. And it has certainly led her to some interesting places and situations which she describes in this collection of short chapters, divided under four headings - America, On the Road, Italy and In the Mountains.
I loved the story of selling the 'home grown' tomatoes to pay for her student expenses, and the one about developing the "$audiopoly" game during anxious times as a teacher in Riyadh. I laughed out loud at "Gondola", in which two themes run side by side - the American who built his own gondola and the tale of the singing dachshund, Artu.
Some of the topics she chooses seem quite minor at first, but through the book Donna Leon constructs a rather beautiful picture of a life well lived, of friends, of enthusiasms and of good memories. And Brunetti, I must warn his fans, only gets the briefest mention.
I loved this book and only wish it had been longer.
In this memoir Donna Leon mentions that she is 'feckless' and not a planner, going where chance leads her. And it has certainly led her to some interesting places and situations which she describes in this collection of short chapters, divided under four headings - America, On the Road, Italy and In the Mountains.
I loved the story of selling the 'home grown' tomatoes to pay for her student expenses, and the one about developing the "$audiopoly" game during anxious times as a teacher in Riyadh. I laughed out loud at "Gondola", in which two themes run side by side - the American who built his own gondola and the tale of the singing dachshund, Artu.
Some of the topics she chooses seem quite minor at first, but through the book Donna Leon constructs a rather beautiful picture of a life well lived, of friends, of enthusiasms and of good memories. And Brunetti, I must warn his fans, only gets the briefest mention.
I loved this book and only wish it had been longer.
August 2, 2023
Call me a philistine, but I have never had the pleasure of reading one of Donna Leon’s Inspector Brunetti mystery novels; this memoir of hers makes a compelling argument for doing so, pronto. Here are collected a peripatetic assortment of succinct essays about some of the people and places, from New Jersey to the Middle East to Venice to Switzerland, whom Ms. Leon, has encountered and--in true authorial style--analyzed for our entertainment and enlightenment. Especially priceless is her chapter “$audiopoly,” centered on the coolly subversive board game she and her fellow expat ESL teacher-friends invented in Saudi Arabia to enliven their free time outside the classroom years ago. “Waiting for the Plumber” and “Von Klausewitz at Rialto” are gems of descriptive prose, too, but there is something for every eclectic taste in this collection: Ms. Leon’s take on cruise ships, honeybees, the Cultural Revolution in Iran, cats, and the music of Handel are just some of the memorable observations she shares with us here from her wealth of experiences culled from 80 years of a life unabashedly and richly lived. I hope she will grace her legion of fans (of whom I am now one) with more memoirs like this one!
August 5, 2023
It is not very surprising that the author of the excellent Brunetti mystery series is a funny, thoughtful and smart writer. What was fascinating is the life she’s lead. From the revolution in Iran to Switzerland during the COVID confinement, Leon shares her memories, experiences, obsessions and her life in general. She is self-deprecating and some parts made me laugh out loud. Others were more poignant but everything is described so vividly, that it’s like being there with her. Other than a letter provided by the real Venice Questura to people who go looking for Brunetti (and that Leon wrote), there is little about the Commissario and his mysteries but reading this book it’s impossible not to think about him. The author’s own experiences have inspired Brunetti’s and I kept finding small references to the novels, including his and other characters’ interests. I am a big fan of the series and was shocked when I found out that Leon was not Italian, so it was fun to discover how she started her life-long affair with Venice and get some insights into her writing. This is a fun memoir.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press!
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