Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton ~ an Audiobook Review

by Donna Huber

After nearly losing the election to a geriatric but wildly popular donkey named Maurizio, newly installed Mayor Delizia Miccuci can’t help but feel like the sun has finally set on the rural Italian village of Lazzarini Boscarino. Tourists only stop by to ask for directions, Nonna Amara’s cherished ristorante is long shuttered, and the town hall is disgustingly overrun with glis glis poo—even Postman Duccio has been disgraced. All that’s left is Bar Celebrità, a rustic establishment where weary locals gather to quibble over decades-long disputes, submit their poor stomachs to bartender Giuseppina’s volcanic espresso, and wonder what will become of the place where together they’ve spent their entire lives.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.i

January 2025; Grand Central; 9781668646045
audio (11h 31m), ebook, print; humor

My post-apocalyptic book club has read and enjoyed Kira Jane Buxton's Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures. Though this is not a post-apocalyptic novel, I still wanted to give it a try. 

I'm not really sure what genre it would fit best into. The Hollow Kingdom series is xenofiction and while we do get a few animals narrating pieces of the stories (usually scenery or scene-setting such as the bee who narrators the activity at the castle during the festival prep) Tartufo isn't totally told from the point-of-view of a non-human. I really liked the animal characters and their observations. The puppy's zest for life always brought a little smile to my face. He might never be a great truffle hunter but he will provide plenty of entertainment.

I think it was going for humorous fiction and there were a couple of scenes that could be funny. Plus the whole plot revolves around a giant, stinky white truffle, which sounds comical. I think I laughed once, maybe twice - usually at a particularly witty piece of dialogue. There is a puppy too that provides some comic relief. But it isn't a laugh-a-minute type story - there are definitely some very serious moments.

The audiobook was well done. I enjoyed Caroline Hewitt's narration. She did well with the different characters.

I felt kind of sad for the town of Lazzarini Boscarino. You might have heard that you can buy a house in Italy for $1. I'm not sure if you could buy one for just a dollar, I do know that they really do a program that allows you to buy a house for really cheap as I had a friend buy a house for something like $10,000. The reason the houses are cheap is that most need work and the the towns are dying due to the aging population and lack of employment opportunities. The town in this book actually has a castle that the owners are willing to give away to anyone willing to restore it. 

While Tartufo is not what I was expecting, I did enjoy listening to it. By the way, I looked up tarufo to see what it meant. It is an Italian recipes made with gelato. All Recipes has an easy recipe that uses ice cream that looks pretty easy if you like to pair a snack with your reading.

Buy Tartufo at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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