Bon Vivant

In the mid-1980s, Auckland university student Beatrice is on her first trip abroad. Noisy, cosmopolitan Sicily is a far cry from the isolated Maori community where Betty grew up.

But the biggest surprise is her friend Xabi’s charismatic brother, Giuseppe, fleeing Rome’s troubled queer scene. In smoky discotecas and cramped bedrooms, they fall headlong into a secretive romance.

Back home, Betty struggles to maintain her fragile connection to Giuseppe over long-distance calls and separate lives. When his distance turns emotional as well as literal, Betty finds solace in Xabi’s flatmate, Linsh – an intense, attentive scientist who looks at her like she hung the moon… and who has his own reasons to dislike Giuseppe.

Decades later, all three must confront the decisions of their past, while navigating the sprawling present and the messiness of desire, family and ambition. Bon Vivant is a balm for our times; an ode to longing, romance and second chances perfect for fans of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's Almost Life and David Nicholls's One Day.