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The Three Graces
On sale
2nd May 2024
Price: £9.99
‘A brilliant piece of storytelling that revels in the world of expat old ladies in Tuscany, and should be the book that everybody’s reading this summer’ Andrew O’Hagan
‘In the Tuscan hilltop village of Santorno, the setting for Amanda Craig’s entertaining and bracing new novel, the Three Graces of her title are preparing for a spring wedding. Adorning this idyll Craig’s Graces – Ruth, Marta and Diana – are a trio of elderly expatriates with a total of “four breasts, five eyes and three hip replacements” between them… witty, sharp-eyed and ridiculously enjoyable’ Christobel Kent, Guardian
When Enzo, a local villager, shoots an illegal immigrant from his bedroom window one night it triggers a series of events that embroil old and young, rich and poor, native and foreign.
‘Enjoyable and provocative… romantic and realistic’ Emily Rhodes, Spectator
‘I absolutely LOVED The Three Graces. It’s about Tuscany and Umbria and Italy and immigration and ageing and generational divides and art and beauty and music and suffering and love and joy and life. It’s bursting with compassion and wisdom’ Christina Patterson
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Reviews
Thoroughly enjoyable... Craig's continuing interest in exposing the fault lines of class, wealth and the inequality of opportunity is striking
Hugely entertaining
A witty and perceptive writer with a line line in figuration... Craig is loyal to her creations... and to her topics, which are given a fresh perspective by the Italian setting : intergenerational differences, the death of local communities and global migration. They elevate her from a state-of-the-nation to a state-of-Europe novelist
As ever, the binary oppositions of modern Britain are compassionately dissected through the various tangled relationships of her sprawling cast... Craig wears her satire lightly, even delightfully at times
People talk about the infirmities of old age, but what about the firmities? What about the beliefs, the events, the politics, the odd secret? The Three Graces is a brilliant piece of storytelling that revels in the world of expat old ladies in Tuscany, and it should be the book everybody's reading this summer. The setting's idyllic, the air is mild in May, but there's a threat of England and family histories just beyond the horizon. It's a novel E.M. Foster would've loved.
Enjoyable and provocative... The novel is both easy and challenging, romantic and realistic. Its success lies in the ever-present tension between light and dark. These three graces turn out to be more Caravaggio than Botticelli
Craig's ambitious, masterly novel reveals the darkness that lies behind the E.M. Forster-esque vistas without ever losing control of the fast-paced story at hand
The plotting is intricate and the themes are big, yet the book's special quality comes from something else: a friendship between three octogenarian women whose thoughtful preoccupations with the past, the present and each other form the novel's charming centre
[A] rambunctious state-of-the-nation caper from Craig... The impending nuptials for the clearly disastrously ill-matched hedge-funder and his influencer girlfriend spark all manner of highly-enjoyable chaos and conflict among the sprawling guestlist. Great spiky fun.
I absolutely LOVED The Three Graces. It's about Tuscany and Umbria and Italy and immigration and ageing and generational divides and art and beauty and music and suffering and love and joy and life. It's bursting with compassion and wisdom. Do treat yourself. We could all do with more beauty, compassion and joy
Multilayered, full of discreet wisdom and wit... [a] most ingeniously plotted and ultimately satisfying novel. There's much more to it than just readability
This is such an enjoyable book. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in Tuscany instead of passing through in a drunken haze - read this pronto
A thought-provoking, five-star ride with plenty to appeal to all generations
While The Three Graces doesn't shy away from the grim social and economic realities facing 21st-century Europe, it's still great, fizzy fun and a perfect holiday read
I loved The Three Graces... the combination of three "mature" central characters, the extended families spread over several generations and the way so many modern issues were reflected against a classical, Mediterranean backdrop make it Amanda Craig's most resonant book yet, a brilliant examination of modern life set against the sunshine of ancient Tuscany
I revelled in The Three Graces - such an intriguing cast, so convincingly presented, and a narrative that continually surprises. The Tuscan backdrop is illuminating, the apposition between old and young so persuasively displayed. A terrific read.
Clever plotting, memorable characters and a completely satisfying ending
Gorgeous and generous... rich with characters and suffused with sunlight. It has so much to say on age - the three graces of the title are all over eighty; wonderful to have elderly characters, so usually marginal, right at the centre of the plot
Witty, sharp-eyed, ridiculously enjoyable... Craig is too clever a storyteller to allow herself to be skewered as neatly as her characters are
We're back in the dreamy Tuscan hills... the story gets into its stride, satisfyingly tying up loose ends and building to a spectacular wedding scene
Witty and timely... Alongside the fantastic cast and characters, Craig has lots to say about issues of the day
I love Amanda Craig's work, always supercharged with bright colouration and passionate feeling. And her imagination seems boundless: a defiant, bubbling wellspring of free-wheeling enquiry in a literary landscape made more and more arid and monotonous
Craig's warmth and attention to detail means the characters are fully formed and compelling
