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The Book ShowAuthor: ABC Australia
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Spritz and bubble tea with Andrew Sean Greer and Naomi Ishiguro
Sunday, 12 July, 2026
Pulitzer Prize-winner Andrew Sean Greer makes the case for the 'charm novel' with his latest, Villa Coco, about an eccentric Italian baroness and a young American in rural Tuscany. And, as Naomi Ishiguro tells Claire Nichols she channels Japanese folklore, anime, Pokémon as well as themes of migration, slavery and corruption in Rainshadow Orphans, the first of a fantasy trilogy. Andrew Sean Greer reveals how his time at an Italian writers' retreat lead by an unforgettable aristocrat inspired his novel Villa Coco. But he's quick to point out that Coco, the elderly eccentric Italian Baronessa of the novel is a vastly different character from the real person. The book's Coco lives in a crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills where a hapless young American takes a job as her assistant. But his vision of what that entails has to undergo a radical rethink; there is chaos, secrets revealed, grandiose visitors sweep through the faded halls and many misunderstandings and mishaps occur. Andrew also makes a case for writing uplifting books (echoing Ann Patchett who spoke with Claire on The Book Show recently about the importance of joy in her writing life). Like her father Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, growing up in Britain has shaped Naomi Ishiguro's understandings and connections with her Japanese heritage. As she describes to Claire her latest novel Rainshadow Orphans, the first of a trilogy of fantasy fiction is partly drawn from her readings of traditional Japanese folklore mixed with contemporary anime, and flavoured with a splash of bubble tea. But in creating the mythical archipelago populated with dragons, sun spirits, high tech underworld criminals and a cast of brave revolutionaries, she is also tapping into perennial issues of discrimination, exploitation, the impact of AI as well as corporate and political greed.
