Villa Coco
On sale
9th June 2026
Price: £20
⭐ The new novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less ⭐
⭐ One of the most anticipated books of 2026 for The Times, BBC Culture, People, Time, Oprah Daily, Seattle Times, Bookseller, Waterstones and Barnes and Noble ⭐
‘No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings’
DAVID SEDARIS
‘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
‘The most beautiful paean to youth, to age and to the fulfilment of love. Absolute joy’
SARAH WINMAN, AUTHOR OF STILL LIFE
‘A lyrical and witty reminder that the most meaningful life – and certainly the one with the best stories – can emerge from the deepest chaos… A great treasure’
KATHERINE HEINY, AUTHOR OF STANDARD DEVIATION
‘What a beautiful book: an absolutely engrossing world full of golden sunlight and little secrets and anchovies and art’
HOLLY GRAMAZIO, AUTHOR OF THE HUSBANDS
‘Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it’
NINA STIBBE, AUTHOR OF MAN AT THE HELM
A coming-of-age novel, a love story and a tale of life-enhancing friendship: Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer showcases his wit and warmth in this magical tale set amidst the Tuscan hills.
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.
Praise for Andrew Sean Greer
‘Bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful’ New York Times
‘I recommend it with my whole heart’ Ann Patchett
‘Brilliant’ Guardian
‘Basically perfect’ Dolly Alderton
‘Unforgettable’ Independent
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Reviews
PRAISE FOR ANDREW SEAN GREER
'Bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful' New York Times
'I recommend it with my whole heart' Ann Patchett
'Brilliant' Guardian
'Basically perfect' Dolly Alderton
'Unforgettable' Independent
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.
Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it.
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.
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.
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.
No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.
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.
Travel to Italy without leaving your reading chair with the Pulitzer Prize winner's latest. Villa Coco chronicles a young man who takes a job as the assistant to a wealthy Baroness named Lisabetta - better known as Coco to her friends.
The Pulitzer-winning author of Less looks ready to serve another warm, witty escape, this time with olive oil and mild chaos. Villa Coco follows a broke young man who takes an "adjutant" job at a crumbling Tuscan villa for Coco, a magnetic elderly baroness with money, secrets, and a final romantic mission. His duties range from cataloguing art to chasing martens and surviving a rotating cast of eccentrics, all while trying not to derail Coco's last shot at love.
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!
Set to be a staple on sun loungers
A perfect summer romp with a strong sense of place
Andrew Sean Greer, author of "Less," writes another transportive book, but this time set in an Italian villa where a man takes a job as an assistant to an eccentric older woman
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
A book soaked in golden sunshine on crumbling Italian stone, flagons of red wine, the oliv harvest, and a delightfully eccentric cast of characters. Presiding over them all is the entirely bonkers but brilliant Baronessa. Think A Room With a View meets The Enchanted April (two of my favourite novels to read when the world is sad and grey). An elegy to sunshine, joy, stolen kisses, youth and hope. Utter bliss, escapism and a panacea
Outrageously good fun. The intricacies unspool, the characters fizz, the chaos ensues. Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy
An absolute delight