I bought THE TUSCAN CHILD because of its title. Seriously. I was in the mood for Tuscany. And the cover was green. I was in the mood for that, too, since New England right now is the dull gray of late winter. I had never read this author, had never heard to her.  But the Audible version had two narrators, one male and one female, and the sample was charming.

So I bought this book on flimsy criteria, an impulse buy, so to speak.

Best impulse buy I’ve made in a long time! It. Was. Fun. Granted, the narrators were just perfect, fitting the characters well. But the story, which alternated between 1944 and 1973, was lighter than many of those other WWII books on the market right now.

THE TUSCAN CHILD has likable characters, beautiful scenery, good food, a little murder, a little romance, a little history — all brought together in a nice bundle. I took off a star for the occasional contrivance, and for those moments that read a bit like a travelogue. But my need for Tuscany and for green were well met.

One caveat.  The narrators of this audiobook were so good that they may have added something that isn’t there in print. I’ll be interested to hear what those of you who do read, rather than listen to, THE TUSCAN CHILD have to say.