Villa Coco
'Some books just feel like a vacation' VOGUE
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3 Months Free
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Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
Villa Coco
Narrated by:
Edoardo Ballerini
Buy Now for £17.94
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Narrated by:
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Edoardo Ballerini
'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.©2026 Andrew Sean Greer (P)2026 Penguin Random House Audio
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Critic reviews
Greer is not only the funniest of writers, but he has a wonderful way with conjuring an image. . . Villa Coco is such a sunny book (Kate Atkinson, author of CASE HISTORIES and LIFE AFTER LIFE)
No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings. (David Sedaris)
An absolute delight (Elif Batuman, author of THE IDIOT and EITHER/OR)
What, at first, appears to be a gloriously bonkers escapade amidst the Tuscan landscape gradually transforms into the most beautiful paean to youth, to age and to the fulfilment of love. Absolute joy. (Sarah Winman, author of STILL LIFE)
Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it. (Nina Stibbe, author of LOVE, NINA and MAN AT THE HELM)
A gorgeous, sun-soaked novel from Andrew Sean Greer that feels tailor-made for holiday reading . . . It is impossible to read this playful, escapist novel without a smile on your face (Best New Books in June)
Some books just feel like a vacation (Best Books of 2026)
Warm and humane . . . Hidden inside the novel's charming universe is a story with a good deal of perspective and soul
A breezy confection of fish-out-of-water wit, insecurity and self-discovery set in an Italian paradise . . . the Baronessa, with her stories and her machinations, her loyalty, wit and courage, and the love and admiration of our young man, casts the requisite spell - delivering, in the end, an enchantment threaded through with hope
A smart, fizzy novel about how right life can be. In Tuscany! With olive groves! . . . [Villa Coco's] easygoing warmth gathers into a smile of a coming-of-age tale
Witty and stylish . . . Greer's seemingly effortless storytelling belies the careful craft of his metaphors and similes
Hired by an eccentric 92-year-old baroness, an archivist takes up residence in a decaying Italian villa to catalog its art and antiques collection - and finds himself caught up in a mad tangle of houseguests, handymen and other quirky characters (The Novels Everyone Will Be Reading This Summer)
The Pulitzer winner's latest novel builds a richly quirky world
A smart, sweetly wistful comedy from the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner, which goes down like fine olive oil. Buono!
Sun-filled, escapist and beautifully written is Villa Coco by American novelist Andrew Sean Greer, who won the Pulitzer Prize with Less. Here, he channels eccentric family novels in the vein of Gerald Durrell and Stella Gibbons . . . A charming, sophisticated story
A fizzy summer cocktail of a novel . . . Packed with warmth, wit, and charm [and a] steady supply of humor
A dreamlike state.......✨️
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