Villa Coco

Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer showcases his wit and warmth in this life-enhancing tale of friendship set amidst the Tuscan hills.

'Absolute joy' Sarah Winman

'The funniest of writers. . . Villa Coco is such a sunny book' Kate Atkinson

'Every sentence in this novel sings' David Sedaris

'Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it' Nina Stibbe

'Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy' Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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.

A 'charm novel' for our times, Villa Coco is a sun-drenched paean to youth, to age and to the fulfilment of love - filled with great wisdom and a spirit of unadulterated joy.

About the Author

Andrew Sean Greer is the bestselling author of six works of fiction, including Less, which was the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He is a recipient of the Northern California Book Award, the California Book Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, the O Henry award for short fiction and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in San Francisco and Milan.