Craig, A: Love in Idleness

In her latest novel, Amanda Craig once again demonstrates not only her splendid skill for storytelling but also her incisive wit as she spins Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream into a delightful modern-day tale of love and lies, set against the magical landscape of Tuscany. When an American lawyer, Theo Noble, and his English wife, Polly, rent an Italian villa-the Casa Luna-for their vacation, they envision an idyllic summer spent in the relaxing company of good friends and family: an eclectic Anglo-American mix. They have invited Theo's brother, Daniel, as well as their friends Hemani and Ellen, to join them. While their children Tania and Robbie will have Hemani's son, Bron, to play with, Polly hopes her mother-in-law can be counted on to control Tania's and Robbie's wild imaginations by force of a personality that can curdle mayonnaise at thirty paces. Even the arrival of Ivo Sponge, the journalist who Ellen-for some reason-detests most in the world, seems unlikely to interfere with the pleasure of exploring art and nature. But the Casa Luna is a place of enchantment and anyone who lives there risks discovering aspects of themselves and other people that go deeper than any clash of cultures. As the temperature rises, it soon becomes increasingly hard to tell what is imaginary and what is real."Love in Idleness is at once a deft interpretation of Shakespeare and a delectable contemporary comedy of manners that is certain to captivate.