I wanted to love this book. Stories of life from a small village in Tuscany in the 20th century, sun drenched and full of people dreaming of migration, and then yearning to return to a home full of olive trees and ancient buildings, sounded delightful.

But of course, reality can be grim in small villages all over the world, and it is this grimness that seeps through the stories in this book. The opening story tells of a dreadful act of animal cruelty, which I was not prepared for, and I found that it tainted the rest of the stories, even though the perpetrator of that cruelty remembered it with remorse. There are stories of revenge long plotted, of wives ill-treated, unhappiness, death and destruction during war. There are stories where migration to other nations seems the answer to everyone’s prayers, and yet once abroad, the call to home is stronger than anyone could predict.

All this disappointment could be forgiven if any of the characters were particularly charming or endearing, or even likeable rogues, but this is not the case. I appreciate it is naive to think that life in rural Italy over the past century has been easy or pleasant, and I understand storytellers yearn to tell the truth about their past and the environment that has been so much a part of their lives. The author has an interesting style, easy to read and you can almost imagine you are sitting around a table while he tells stories of days and people gone by. Unfortunately, they aren’t tales I wanted to hear.

Reviewed by Lesley West