I am not usually one for humorous books, but Tartufo caught my eye, largely because it is set in Italy where I lived for a number of years.
The village of Lazzarini Boscarino is dying. Young folks have all left, heading to Milan or other big cities. The old mayor died never revealing that he squandered funds he received to help the village. His daughter, the new mayor, Delizia Micucci, is a veterinarian who’s lived and worked all over Italy, usually leaving her current job when she’s passed over for promotion in favor of a male. She’s come home with her husband to Lazzarini to heal. She’s voted in as mayor, but the ballot included a donkey named Maurizio. In the forest nearby, Giovanni Scarpazza, a truffle hunter, finds a huge truffle worth a lot of money. He, in turn, donates it to the village to improve circumstances there, but in the end, it causes more to-do than it is worth. Tartufo is about the connection between the village, the villagers, the land, and all nature.
Tartufo has a large cast of oddballs, all of whom are well-conceived, though the village itself serves as a character. The prose is gorgeous with sensuous descriptions of food that will have your mouth watering but is also a sensuous feast for all the senses. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in which the reader’s senses are so titillated. The novel is quirky, yet truly brilliant with lovely prose and lovelier characters, absolutely charming, life-affirming, and heart-warming—and often laugh-out-loud funny. Tartufo is told in an omniscient point of view and includes life as seen, for example, through the eyes of a bee and of truffle-hunting dogs.
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Tartufo (Grand Central Publishing, January 28, 2025) is available through:
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