In January 1921, David and Frieda Lawrence, who'd left postwar England in disgust and were living in Taormina, suddenly felt "an absolute necessity to move" coming over them and decided to go off on a spontaneous trip to Sardinia. They take a boat from Palermo to Cagliari, travel by train and bus through the island to the northern port of Terranova, and then back to Sicily via Civitavecchia, Rome and Naples. The whole trip doesn't seem to have taken them more than about two weeks.

Lawrence describes it all with his characteristically mannered style, full of alliteration, repetition and double-shotted adjectives, and with a degree of engagement that makes it feel almost as though he's writing it all in real time, or at least so quickly that he hasn't quite realised how ridiculous it is to get worked up into a rage by a boatman trying to overcharge him or by sophisticated Palermo young women laughing at his backpack and Frieda's "kitchenino" picnic basket. Because, unlike many travel writers, Lawrence is not at his best when he's in a bad mood. When something happens to upset or offend him (which happens a lot), he comes over as tediously xenophobic and intolerant, small-minded and petulant. But when he's had a good sleep or a good meal and is prepared to enjoy life, he comes out with some fabulous, memorable passages of lyrical description. The kids going to an Epiphany fancy-dress ball in Cagliari, the vegetables on the market (a real Zola moment!), "manly" Sardinian peasants, the gratifyingly untouristy village of Nuoro in the morning sun, and the glorious Palermo marionette theatre are all more than worth the price of admission.

But woe betide anyone who reminds Lawrence that this is 1921, that Italy has just fought a devastating war and got nothing out of being on the winning side, that D'Annunzio has just failed ingloriously in Fiume (Rijeka), and that most rural Italians are living in extreme poverty and have good reason to resent foreigners, especially foreigners like the Lawrences who don't have a lot of money to spend. ( )

I was looking for a good description of life in Sardinia in the early 1900's and DH Lawrence was my surprise go to person. He and his wife took a very rustic short tour through the island and the descriptions were fantastic. The differences he describes between Sardinia and the Italian mainland are memorable. ( )