Tartufo

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton
1/28/25; 352 pages
Grand Central Publishing

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton is a recommended farcical tale tale, highly for the right reader, involving a giant truffle. The rural Tuscan village of Lazzarini Boscarin is in decline when local truffle hunter Giovanni Scarpazza finds a giant truffle, un tartufo. The worth of truffle has the power to change the course of the village by both helping the citizens and revive interest in visiting it. A large cast of colorful characters from the village come to life in this over-the-top humorous novel.

It is helpful that the cast of characters are listed at the beginning of the narrative so readers can follow who everyone is and all the connections between them. Honestly, there are almost too many characters, all of the quirky but not all of them play an essential role in the novel. Some of this unrestrained writing style is also found in the excessive descriptive passages. At first I appreciated it, until it began to grate and got in the way of actually telling the story and slowed the pace and my appreciation of the novel down.

There is an interesting story woven in all the excesses, which made it an average okay novel for me. Perhaps those who like the author's writing style will appreciate Tartufo more. Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.