American chef Marlena de Blasi has two passions in life – love and food. She finds both to a great extent in the Tuscan village of San Casciano dei Bagni, where she moves from Venice with her Italian husband Fernando. The picturesque Tuscan countryside, a region of ancient olive groves and hot Etruscan springs, is where they intend to find the true ingredients of the good life.

In a village with only two hundred quirky inhabitants, they move into a primitively renovated former stable with no telephone, no central heating and a tiny, modest kitchen. In essence, their new life is very little different from the life that the local villagers have been leading for centuries. They harvest grapes in the vineyards, gather edible chestnuts, go to the forest for mushrooms and pick olives by hand.

The couple soon befriends the charismatic Barlozzo, the unofficial village leader, whose stories and rich knowledge of local folklore literally captivate Marlena. In his company, the couple attend seasonal festivities and taste freshly pressed olive oil drizzled on a slice of toasted country bread or zucchini flowers fried in oil. They discover rural osterias, where they cook according to what was harvested or caught that day. Barlozzo willingly introduces them to local traditions, starting with old herbal potions and ending with Tuscan agriculture; but it also has its secrets. One of them concerns the village beauty Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that a happy life is actually a choice for every person.

A Thousand Days in Tuscany is a novel full of the most diverse and delicious earthy flavors as well as traditional Tuscan cuisine and will enchant all readers who want to know the true soul of Tuscany. The book is supplemented with the author's recipes of classic Tuscan cuisine.