Villa Coco
‘Set to be a staple on sun loungers' - BBC Culture, 40 most exciting books to look forward to in 2026
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Villa Coco
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About this listen
'The funniest of writers. . . Villa Coco is such a sunny book' Kate Atkinson
'A great treasure' Katherine Heiny
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
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)
In prose as expert and precise as the steps of a Balinese dancer, Andrew Sean Greer has written a tale of a young American man who spends a season in Tuscany working as an archivist for an endlessly demanding, supremely disorganized, and very charismatic Baronessa. It's a lyrical and witty reminder that the most meaningful life - and certainly the one with the best stories - can emerge from the deepest chaos. Villa Coco, the Baronessa's crumbling mansion, is referred to by all as 'a great treasure.' Villa Coco, the novel, is one, too. (Katherine Heiny, author of STANDARD DEVIATION and GAMES AND RITUALS)
What a beautiful book: an absolutely engrossing world full of golden sunlight and strange little secrets and anchovies and art. I feel like I'd recognise its glorious haphazard villa and determined Baronessa on sight. (Holly Gramazio, author of THE HUSBANDS)
This book is absolute magic. It is so rare to find a novel today that is both so sophisticated and warm-hearted, so erudite and yet absolutely unpretentious, so terrifically page-by-page funny and yet so full of hidden sadnesses. Also, it features one of the greatest characters in modern fiction, the unflappable and unforgettable Baronessa. Get ready for the literary treat of the year! (Gary Shteyngart, author of VERA, OR FAITH)
Outrageously good fun. The intricacies unspool, the characters fizz, the chaos ensues. Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE MERCIES and ALMOST LIFE)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the Arthur Less novels captures the allure of la dolce vita-Renaissance paintings and books, bottles of Lambrusco wine and gelato-all bathed in a buttery Tuscan light. (Most Anticipated Books of 2026)
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, this gentle, warm, funny story centres on a young American arriving at a villa in Tuscany to help out the Baronessa who lives there, and navigating his way through a ramshackle, farcical, ridiculous situation. Ideal holiday reading. (Books of 2026)
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