The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

It is 1958 and Adam Strickland has reached the end of his second year studying at Cambridge. He is not the most diligent of students and when his tutor asks to see him he presumes he is in trouble for slacking. Instead he is offered a dissertation topic, studying the garden of a Tuscan villa owned by a friend of his tutor. Intrigued and desperate not to follow in his father's footsteps Adam agrees. What he does not anticipate is that the garden hides a 400 year old mystery and a curse that has followed the owners for years. Armed with his intellect alone Adam feels he must solve the mystery of the garden and the mystery that surrounds the current owners in the few short weeks he has.

I picked this book up as I hoped it would be something different to what I usually read. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Although the first few chapters had me wondering if anything was going to happen as the story unfolded I was gradually drawn in. Like any good detective story by the end I was heading in the right direction although I hadn't quite guessed what was going on. There are plenty of twists and turns but for fans of fast paced action you will find this book very slow and lacking in action. Much of the story line involves looking at the garden and several of the older characters reminiscing, as well as family dinners.

It is certainly one of the better representations of Italy I have read of late. The descriptions make you want to visit but they don't drown the story line. The family at the centre of the book feel convincingly Italian. There is good food, good company and a general happiness that you expect from your stereotypical Italian experience.

Its a book that is well worth trying and persevering with past the first few chapters. Its not a difficult read and if you want a detective story with more similarity to Rosemary and Thyme than Waking the Dead then this is probably for you.


*3 stars*

Tuscany for Beginners - by Imogen Edwards-Jones

It has been 5 years since Belinda discovered her husband in bed with the next door neighbour. After the divorce she moved to Tuscany and opened an exclusive Bed and Breakfast establishment. Over those five years she has built up a small group of ex-pat friends and gotten involved in several local events. She has even started to write a book about her experiences, peppered with her rustic Italian recipes. Yet this summer her world will be turned on its head. This summer a new resident moves into her valley, and she too has decided to open an exclusive Bed and Breakfast. How will Belinda cope with her new competition, who not only wants her business but her social life as well?

This book is the latest read in the book club I have joined. Again, like the previous book I read for this club (see my review of 'Telling Tales' by Ann Cleeves) it was not a book I would normally pick up. To be honest it will continue to be the sort of book I never pick up! From start to finish I found I hated this book. The storyline did not interest me, I did not like any of the characters at all and I felt reading this book had been a waste of my time.

The main character Belinda sounds an absolute nightmare. Lazy, self-obsessed and devoid of basic customer service skills (a necessity one would think when running a B&B). She is a downright snob, who looks down on just about everyone in one way or another. Quite frankly I would not wish to stay at her establishment if it were the last on earth. I can also understand why her husband had an affair with the neighbour. Her fellow ex-pats are also utterly unlovable. They sound like the typical caricatures of Brits abroad, not willing to eat like or rub shoulders with the locals, who spend most of their time working on their tan or paying for new palm trees or swimming pools. The American (Lauren) who competes against Belinda is hard to like too. Although she manages everything much better than Belinda she still comes across as vindictive and selfish. Even the characters we probably should feel sympathetic towards (Belinda's daughter and Lauren's soon) some across as spineless, weak and uninteresting.

The story is meant to be comic but I felt it was all too forced. It was too much of a caricature of the worst of human behaviour. The humour was obvious and unfunny. A lot of the plot seemed fanciful, especially the ending, and it all came across as some bad dream.

It comes as no surprised therefore that the author helped write the scripts for the BBC drama 'Hotel Babylon'. It too suffers from caricatures rather than characters and lots of unfunny humour.

It's a shame that this book does no justice to Tuscany. Although I have not been to Tuscany I have been to Italy on numerous occasions and would recommend to everyone to visit. This book rather puts you off visiting the country which is a real shame.

I would not recommend this book to anyone. I am certain there are better 'ex-pat' novels than this out there and I'd love the chance to read them and restore my faith in this genre. Suggestions gratefully received!

*1 star*