A Tuscan Childhood

Kinta Beevor was born in 1911 at Northbourne in East Kent. After her father joined up in the First World War, her mother, Lina Waterfield, took Kinta and her brother out to Florence, where she started the British Institute. Kinta's childhood was spent at Poggio Gherardo and at her parents' castle in Aulla. She returned to England, married and had three sons, one of whom is the historian Antony Beevor. She lived at Eastry, close to where she was born, but she still returned to Italy each year. Kinta Beevor died in August 1995.

"Packed with sumptuous descriptions of seasons and their rites--. A portrait of a vanished Tuscany and a tantalizing glimpse of exceptional people who loved Italy very well."--Elle

"A loving and intimate portrait of Tuscany's many faces--. One can hear the buzzing of the cicadas, smell the wild thyme, and feel the crunching of pine needles underfoot--. A beautifully written book."--The Sunday Times (London)

"Captivating--sharp-eyed, intelligent and abundant in its riches. "--Los Angeles Times

All the beauty and enchantment of the Tuscan countryside is captured in this exquisite memoir of Kinta Beevor's idyllic bohemian childhood, spent with her family in their Italian castle in the years between the two world wars.

In 1916 Kinta's father, the painter Aubrey Waterfield, purchased the sixteenth-century Fortezza della Brunella in the Tuscan village of Aulla. There he and his writer wife lived at the heart of a vibrant artistic community that included Aldous Huxley, Bernard Berenson, and D. H. Lawrence, while Kinta and her brother explored the glorious countryside, helped with the grape and olive harvests, gathered wild mushrooms, and came to know and love the tough, resourceful Italians. With the coming of World War II the family had to leave Aulla; years later, though, Kinta would return to witness the courage and skill of the Tuscan people as they rebuilt their shattered world. Lyrical and witty, A Tuscan Childhood is alight with the timeless splendor of Italy.