'As the author reaches her 9th decade [this makes] for a fascinating insight into her life and
world albeit with discretion and leaving tantalising hints at what lies beyond. One for the
fans (and friends).' Crime Time 'Leon's elegant witty prose . . . is a joy. One of the best
European novelists around' Amanda Craig 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. From 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 has long been open to 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 - and her eager
imagination for crime as she watches unsuspecting travelers on trains. Yet as Leon inspects the
cracks in the wall of a friend's bedroom caused by the seven-story cruise ships making their
way down Venice's canals she admits regretfully that the thrill may be gone as mass tourism
renders the city less and less appealing to its longtime chronicler. Having recently
celebrated her eightieth birthday Leon now confronts the dual challenges and pleasures 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. 'Few detective writers create so vivid
inclusive and convincing a narrative as Donna Leon the expatriate American with the Venetian
heart' Washington Post
