Villa Coco
The instant Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller - 'an enchantment threaded through with hope' GUARDIAN
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
⭐ The book of the summer ⭐
The instant bestseller from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less
'If you're looking for the ultimate dose of escapism, it doesn't get better than Villa Coco'
COSMOPOLITAN
'An enchantment threaded through with hope'
GUARDIAN
'A gorgeous, sun-soaked novel that feels tailor-made for holiday reading'
I NEWSPAPER
'I was totally charmed by this joyful novel... it's full of gossip, warmth and sunshine'
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, summer reading
'Oh joy of joys. If you're in need of a funny, sunny book - and, God knows, who isn't? - Andrew Sean Greer is your man... A warm and engaging story of food, friendship and finding the meaning in life... gorgeous'
THE SHIFT
'A most delightful and unlikely romantic comedy... Villa Coco isn't mere ice cream; it's stracciatella gelato served in one of the most beautiful places on earth'
WASHINGTON POST
'Captures the allure of la dolce vita - Renaissance paintings and books, bottles of Lambrusco wine and gelato - all bathed in a buttery Tuscan light'
TIME
Broke and directionless, our young protagonist takes a job in the Italian countryside as the assistant to Lisabetta - better known to her friends as Coco - a strong-willed, wealthy aristocrat 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 in a series of increasingly eccentric pursuits: 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 aiding and abetting Coco's great and final plan - to reunite with the lost love of her life before it's too late.
As summer turns into autumn and the Italian countryside begins to work its magic, 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.
'No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer'
DAVID SEDARIS
'Villa Coco is such a sunny book'
KATE ATKINSON
'Absolute joy'
SARAH WINMAN, AUTHOR OF STILL LIFE
'An absolute delight'
ELIF BATUMAN, AUTHOR OF THE IDIOT AND EITHER/OR
Praise for Andrew Sean Greer
'Bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful' New York Times
'I recommend it with my whole heart' Ann Patchett
'Brilliant' Guardian
'Basically perfect' Dolly Alderton
'Unforgettable' Independent
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This charming tale of an innocent abroad from Pulitzer winner Greer (Less) doubles as a love letter to Italy. The narrator, Geoffrey, a 21-year-old American college student, lands a job as an archivist for an eccentric Baronessa in Tuscany. Arriving in the fall after his graduation, he's immediately swept into the magical if unsettling world of his 92-year-old employer. To Geoffrey, the villa "look both like the British Museum and like a child's bedroom, filled with beloved trash and treasures." Soon, the Baronessa has him doing everything but cataloging the villa's contents. Ten hours a day he trims the rose bushes; searches for books and magazines; makes appointments with doctors, masseurs, and veterinarians; and listens to the Baronessa's endless fantastical tales. Everyone in her life has a story, the young man learns: "They lived in a sealed world of comic-strip logic, and within that world, all schemes ended as happily as a monkey's life in Zanzibar." As the months pass, Geoffrey absorbs Italian culture, breaks his vow to avoid romantic entanglements, and faces some tough choices for his future. Throughout, Greer breathes life into the Baronessa and her world and captures its appeal to Geoffrey, fashioning the novel into a box of treasures. This light and airy bildungsroman is great fun.
