Gerald Samper, an effete Englishman, lives on a hilltop in Tuscany. He is a ghostwriter for celebrities, and a foodie, whose weird tastes include 'Mussels in Chocolate and Garlic' and 'Fernet Branca Ice Cream'. His idyll is shattered by the arrival of Marta, a vulgar woman from a former Soviet republic now run by gangsters, notably male members of her family. She is a composer in a neo-folk style who claims to be writing a score for a trendy Italian film director. The neighbours' lives disastrously intertwine. The entourages of the rock star and the director come and go; mysterious black helicopters bring news of mayhem in Voynova, Marta's homeland; and along the way the English obsession with Tuscany is satirized mercilessly. World rights for "Cooking with Fernet Branca" are controlled by Faber. Rights for Germany have already been sold.
- ISBN13 9780571220908
- Publish Date 3 June 2004
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 8 September 2015
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Format Paperback
- Pages 304
- Language English