Villa Coco ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer 

Just one alt cover

G👀dreads About Summary

A coming-of-age novel, a love story and a tale of life-enhancing Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer showcases his wit, sophistication and deep knowledge of focaccia in this magical tale set amidst the Tuscan hills.
Broke and directionless, our young man takes a job in the Italian countryside as the all-purpose assistant to Lisabetta, known to her friends as Coco - a strong-willed, wealthy widow of great local renown.

Trained as an archivist, he thinks he's been hired to catalogue the contents of the beautiful, crumbling mansion nestled in the green Tuscan hills... but what are his actual duties? Days are spent ridding the house of a marten - whatever that is - locating the antediluvian septic system, entertaining an endless carousel of guests (from bohemian painters to elderly princesses to unnervingly handsome nephews), attending a funeral in order to make off with the urn, and not inadvertently sabotaging Coco's great and final plan-to locate the lost love of her life and be reunited before it's too late.

As summer turns into autumn and the Italian countryside begins to work its magic on our protagonist, the secrets of Villa Coco and its inhabitants are slowly brought to light - and with them, an unforgettable story of the enduring power of friendship.


Genre: Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, LGBT, Italy

The How/Why: Wildly recommended on SM. And a double dose of LOVE: Italy and Edorado Ballerini.

⭐⭐⭐⭐Waffling between 3.5 and 3.75 but feeling generous so bumped to 4.

🎉 Overall Storytelling? 🎉🎉🎉🎊

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Maybe 🤷

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Maybe 🤷 but probably not. He IS a Pulitzer Prize winner but that doesn't make him an automatic YES in my book.

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? Google says: Aging and Mortality, Infïdɇlïty, Alcohol Use.
Update: I say aging and mortality are part of life. You have plenty of warning so not sure why it would be a TW.
Infïdɇlïty was handled well by the author IMO.
Alcohol use but not alcohol abuse, so again no.

🌶 Spice? Not really, romantic MM sub-plot but not steamy.

🌪 Plot Twist? Yes

👟 Pace? Good

💻 Tidbits ~ They had me at Edorado Ballerini...

A breath of fresh Italian air. It's light and easy.

The About Summary indicates coming-of-age. At 21 he's right at the upper range. It didn't give me coming-of-age vibes since he already graduated college and knows exactly who he is. Comfortably gay, no closet required. It was more like 'fresh out of college trying to find where I fit in professionally' vibes.

Baronessa Lisabetta aka Coco is as flamboyant of a 92 year old that you'd ever want to meet. She has embraced living in the past remembering her glory days.

Geoffrey aka Giovedì "that's not my name" accepts his first post-grad job in Italy as an archivist. Catalog all her art, jewels, and collectibles. How hard could that be? Unbeknownst to him he is also Coco's Man Thursday (reference to Girl Friday) aka assistant to whatever whim happens to cross her mind. Managing Coco's pugs, helping with the olive harvesting, entertaining her equally flamboyant friends and her married male cousin :wink::wink: Oh boy, was that a tangled web.
Also unbeknownst to him, he's helping her transition to her final journey in life.

Humor Has It - funniest to me:
Coco is hooked on a TV Detective Show. They watch together in separate rooms. She calls him during commercials to discuss the who-done-it! 🔍
No Hats on the Bed. He puts his hat on a daybed and now to break the curse, Coco tells him he has to touch a man's testicles. Said man tells him it's okay to just touch his trousers because "A jester is as a good as a deed". 
My grandmother always said No Hats on the Bed so I know that is a thing. I think they made up the curse breaker! 😆

When life gives you lemons, make limoncello 🍋 or in this case, Olive Oil 🫒.
And now I want some Pasta al Limone.

🎧 Narrator: Edorado Ballerini, always the heartthrob💓
He IS an automatic YES in my book (or shall I say my audiobook?)!

🎧8.36 hours (Libby) 🕮 288 pages


Image I created with Gemini AI
Yes Please!

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