Pinch Me
By Barbara Boyle
She Writes Press, 9781647428327, Feb 2025, 216pp
The Short of It:
If you want to feel wonderful about the world again, pick this up. It’s a beautiful, feel-good memoir.
The Rest of It:
This book is wonderful. In its brief 216 pages, I lingered and made the recipes and scanned all the QR codes for photos. Yes, people! Delicious Italian food AND photo albums of the restoration process of this beautiful 300 year old farmhouse. Barn, really.
Barbara Boyle and her husband Kim visit a small Italian town for vacation and fall in love with the town, its people and the overall sense of place. So much so that when they return to their US home in San Francisco, they begin to dream about a possible home there. Could that work?
With the right realtor, a dedicated construction crew and lots of trips back and forth, they purchase what is essentially a barn and turn it into the most beautiful home, overlooking the hillsides and wildflowers and yes, grapevines too.
I am not a big RENO person. As soon as foundation talk enters the chat, I tune out but not in this case. Solving the foundation issues in a 300 year old relic, takes precision, care and creative solutions. I found this part to be fascinating. Also, how they started with the roof! I would never have even though to start with that when the walls are crumbling and held up by mud.
Construction aside, the relationships that this couple built there are admirable and the kindness of strangers, who eventually become neighbors was so comforting and sweet. I loved hearing about their interactions with the local businesses too. All of the delicious restaurants and pasta making experiences and the emphasis on fresh produce and simple ingredients.
Reading Pinch Me was a palate cleanser for my soul. Anyone in need of that needs to find a copy immediately. I will say this, there is a deeper topic introduced towards the end and also a COVID pandemic mention given how it affected that region. But, it was just what the doc ordered as far as escapism.
Highly recommend. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year. Would make a great gift too. I would include some photos of the house but I want you to get the book and scan those QR codes for the albums!
Source: Borrowed
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Book Chatter 
Wonderful that their move to Italy and a new home paid off. The same might not be true for homes in France because of all the bureaucracy and red tape, I believe.
Harvee https://harvee44.blogspot.com/2025/04/poetry-is-not-luxury-poems-for-all.html
They had some red tape but a really good middle man to assist with it all.
I love these kind of stories! If you haven’t read Frances Mayes’ memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun, I highly recommend you give it a try. It’s nothing like the movie (with Diane Lane). I also enjoyed On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Herrmann Loomis. Lots of recipes in that one, too.
Your review convinced me to get a copy, I hope I love it as much as you did!
How is the Otter Pup?
Oh you will. It’s lovely.
It’s always tempting to say I’ll pack up and move someone (most likely the UK), but I never follow through so how fun that this couple actually did it.
I know people that have moved to other countries. It was very rough at first. Just remodeling is so hard in other countries. But once settled, they loved it.
I always say I will end up where my kids are but those two could not be more different. I have no idea where I will end up. LOL.
Sounds wonderful. I love Italy and would love to live there for a while but I can’t leave here because of my grandsons. I HAVE to live near them. My heart is too attached.
In this book, the author was also conflicted about moving away from family but she and her husband planned the property for regular visits from the fam so they could all enjoy it.
You would love this book. The restaurant talk alone is so comforting and the restaurants are still there and thriving. I looked them up!
Italy sounds good about now. Something far far away. The couple seem bold to do all those house renos in a foreign land but perhaps they were into it. And always good to have a palate cleanser.
They really lucked out with local contractors. They had one shady dealing but everything else went pretty well. It is pretty gutsy to take on something like that. Especially when they don’t know the language. And all that flying back and forth.
I like reno shows, but I haven’t read a lot of books on the subject or about that. Sounds like it could be a good low-key read.