This book is printed in a fascimile format that faithfully reproduces the manuscript narrating the adventures of two young women as they travel by donkey cart through the hills of the Tuscany Region of Italy.  the delights and the travils of their trip will captivate readers and will give them insights into a way of life that disappeared long ago.

The author was an independent,  fearless and inquisitive woman who was determined to escape from gender sterotypes and the confining life of an unmarried woman in the Boston society where she was raised.  Pearson learned to use a camera (and later a movie camera), develop photographs, drive a car and do other things then considered less than appropriate for a woman of her social status.  Not only did she write about her trips but also presented illustrated lectures using her photographs and films.  Many years after this trip she and her partner, Laura Paddock, founded Rowantrees Pottery in Blue Hill, Maine. (A limited edition is available.  Limited to 50 copies;  casebound, individually signed and numbered is $90 inc s/h.)