Book Bug July

As summer rolls around, so do dreams of sun, travel, and new experiences. You’ll find them all in the new book Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer, about a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.

Heartsore, 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.

Technically charged with cataloguing Coco’s extensive and eclectic collection of art and artifacts, his actual duties are much stranger: ridding the house of a marten, locating the ancient septic system, entertaining the baronessa’s eclectic guests, attending a funeral in order to make off with the urn, and, most importantly, 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. Greer showcases his wit, sophistication, and a deep knowledge of focaccia in this magical and madcap tale.

Feel-good stories about starting again are a summer staple. If you want more sun-soaked and moving reads after this one, try Rebecca Serle’s One Italian Summer, set on the Amalfi Coast, or The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani. You can request these books at the library in print, digital, or audio formats, or go online to find them through our catalogue: http://library.brucecounty.on.ca/