Laugh More: Stories from an Unexpected Life
By Debbie Travis
(Random House Canada, October 22, 2024, 304 pages)
Book Review by Kristin Clarke, CAE
If the holiday season has you seeking a light-hearted read that transports you on a mental vacation away from life’s stressors, schedule some me-time with Laugh More, the twelfth book of actress-turned-decorator-turned-hotel-owner Debbie Travis.
The lifestyle podcaster and bestselling author builds on a prior book, Joy, by sharing short, amusing stories that take us on seasonal journeys through the challenges, observations, and mishaps of running a women’s retreat center in her constantly renovated, 13th-century Tuscany farmhouse and olive orchard.
Aside from the beautiful landscape and meal descriptions, Travis introduces us to myriad local tradespeople—all classic Italian characters who celebrate, well, anything by breaking out fabulous food, music, and friendly frivolity.
If you are unfamiliar with Travis—as she may be to many Americans—she was raised in Northern England and modeled worldwide before starring in and producing numerous BritishTV shows. But she traded in most of that so-called glamour to instead marry the love of her life and launch a series of life-changing adventures that led to her happy settlement in one of the most idyllic wine-producing communities in Italy.
Travis does a good job of pulling you along on upbeat jaunts to the farmers’ market, frustrating but typical encounters with bureaucrats and locals responsible for home renovation delaysand red tape, and warm gatherings of visiting guests in desperate need of healing, rejuvenation, and reflection.
Readers also are treated to the joys of spontaneous spend-a-day travel to nearby countries—France for lunch, Switzerland for cheese, Slovenia, Monaco, and more. You’re sitting in the back of her usually-running car, spotting castles and memorizing scenic hillscapes (while sometimes fighting awful traffic and crazy drivers) or you’re on your way to Turin for a glass of wine from an unlabeled bottle made 20 yards behind the bistro. Life is good, very good. Thanks for taking us, Debbie!
But Travis showers most of her love language onto Italy, explaining traditions, superstitions, and habits that have us all wishing we, too, could participate in one of the frequentcommunal dinners that trade traffic on main street for a long row of trestle tables that seat up to 1,000 neighbors. Each diner brings a contribution produced with pride—chocolate, pasta,olive oil, pasta. For one such meal, Travis makes five pans of strawberry tiramisu, then shares the recipe with readers along with 14 other must-try additions.
That’s part of the fun of Laugh More—the feeling that while Travis is writing along, she thought, “Oh, I know just the recipe for that lasagna I mention in this chapter,” and she sticks it in like a torn piece of notebook paper.
Her tales are inspiring, frankly—yes, we all want to come to a Limoncello-making workshop! Yes, we all love the idea of dragging in one of her 25 lemon trees to dress it up as a Christmas tree. Yes, we had no idea how easy it is to make Ligurian tomato and olive focaccia, and now we’ve got semolina flour and fine salt on our grocery lists!
If post-election exhaustion and rising holiday stressors are adding mental weight to your day, Laugh More is the psychological glass of refreshingly sweet eggnog with a friend who can always make you giggle.
