Hello and welcome to Bookcrossing!

Thanks for picking up this book. Treat it nicely, enjoy reading it and let everyone know what you thought of it here; you can be anonymous if you like or you might want to join Bookcrossing, if you do you can follow the book's onward journey. Then, pass it on when the time is right.If you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me retromonkey, as your referring member.

Adding to the book buffet

Received in the Book Swap game at Loughborough Unconvention. Thank you very much!

Frances is a theatre producer who has thrown herself into work for years, and has recently had her heart broken by the feckless Alistair. Frances's cousin Gina decides she should go back to Montecastello, in Italy, where she lived until she was five and where her parents died in suspicious circumstances. Frances doesn't know that Gina has signed her up to an art school, with a peculiar set of mismatched pupils. The plot is a bit far fetched and I found it hard to keep track of all the characters but still a fun read.

Sent to penelopewanders from round 16 of the Alphabet VBB.

I used to look forward to reading Sandi Toksvig's column in my monthly copy of Good Housekeeping (yes, at some point "Ten great soups in 15 minutes" takes precedence over "How far to go on the first date..."). Very sadly and to GH's detriment, she no longer does her column, but thought this book on the Alphabet VBB would allow me to revisit her humor and prose. Thanks so much for organizing the VBB and for sending!

I loved Sandi Toksvig's column in Good Housekeeping magazine (British edition), so was curious to read more of her work. I am not sure this was the best example. While I enjoyed the foray into Italy, and the writing is witty as ever, I was not convinced by this. The drama was too much like vaudeville for my taste, and the religious fervor was rather lost on me.

A bit of a complicated journey for this one. It was mooched while I was between houses in Switzerland, and the book had already made the journey to France. Once I was able to make it to France myself, it seemed the book had disappeared (with three others that had been requested, who knows how many others took a different turning during the move?). Anyway, I ended up letting the person who wanted to mooch it - in Switzerland no less - know that I could not find the book. The mooch was cancelled. Shortly thereafter the book turned up in a box with desk equipment - not books. So I was able to offer the book again and it was mooched by the same person (smooching back the extra points).. Anyway, now it leaves France for Switzerland and hopefully will be greatly enjoyed and appreciated!