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The movie made her far more interesting than the book did.

Movie version: her best friend is a lesbian and they send Mayes on a gay tour of Tuscany since the friend's wife doesn't want her to travel in the first trimester. The trip is to help Mayes recover from the divorce. She falls in love with the country, finding magic in unexpected places and buys a villa. In restoring it, she learns to love herself again, as she learns Italian ways of living.

Book version: straight lady buys house with husband because they can. They are utterly ignorant about restoring an old house. Hijinks ensue. They're only there in the summers.

Seriously, which would you pick? There are interesting parts about local Italian history and the occasional magic moment, but mostly it's a "look at how cool my normative life is, aren't you jealous?" kinda book.

Be aware that the three star rating is because Mayes is a competent writer who occasionally includes some really beautiful prose. What this rating is NOT based on is an engaging story. But I can't fault her competency in her craft.

If you liked Eat Pray Love, you may also like this one. I believe the reverse is also true.