The Three Graces revolves around three elderly expats - Ruth, Marta, and Diana - who live in Italy, and their extended families, many of whom are arriving from the UK for the wedding of Ruth's grandson Olly to social media influencer Tania. The book succeeds on many levels; it's not just an absorbing and well-written narrative focussing on the complex lives and loves of the three women and several of the characters from their grandchildrens' generation, set against a beautiful Italian backdrop, it's also a meditation on the challenges of growing old (a subject that's not covered often enough or well enough in contemporary fiction), the challenges of trying to establish your life as a twenty-something in the 2020s, and the impact of the migrant crisis, racism, social media, Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and many of the other issues affecting society today. And all this is achieved seamlessly, and doesn't feel forced or preachy. I loved this book and will be recommending it.

A well written and engaging character-led tale set over two weeks in May about the connecting lives of three elderly female friends.

A highly recommended read bringing together contemporary themes of immigration and Russian oligarchs hiding from the clutches of Putin.

Well worth a read.

Craig has built up her own world of overlapping characters superbly, and it's lovely to revisit them - and indeed to loop back to her first 'Foreign Bodies', which has been quite hard to get hold of for a while. It's also terrific to read about older women - proper older women, not just 'mature' characters but ones whose bodies are falling apart and who live with the ever-impinging knowledge of their own mortality.

Other things, perhaps, are not as successful. At her (considerable) best Craig can interweave fabulously, and she can also just shade in and hint at a backstory that is never further explored yet poignantly drawn (she does this, for instance, in a few lines in 'A Vicious Circle'. Here, at least one denouement is just dropped on us from a great height - it's not, frankly, a complete surprise but it should have a bit more build-up. But I greatly enjoyed reading it, and want to see what happens 'next'....

Amanda Craig is a marvellous writer - I've read a few, but not all, of her previous books and I really need to remedy that.

The Three Graces, set in Tuscany, is an enthralling read with a lot to say about age, racism and colonialism, among other things, set against a backdrop of local fear and suspicion of the African migrant "invaders" of their community. Brexit Britain, though rarely mentioned directly, feels ever-present; other contemporary horrors like the war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and climate change also lurk in the background.

Unusually, it focuses on three women who are all over eighty. None are Italian, but all now live in Tuscany: Marta, a German concert pianist: American former psychiatrist Ruth, now an organic farmer; and faded English aristocrat Diana, caring for an ungrateful husband. The wedding of Ruth's grandson Olly to social media influencer Tania brings guests to the area and stresses to Ruth - but all three have their issues.

Permanent residents include nearby Russian oligarch Vasily Ivanov, living in daily fear of an attack by Putin, and local man Enzo, who, also feeling under threat (though not from Putin) has done something that horrified him. Among the visitors are Marta's grandson Xan - consumed with resentment about the injustices he experiences due to his age and race - and, rather mysteriously, a young man from Zimbabwe, Blessing, who is assumed to be but clearly isn't a wedding guest.

All the characters are complex and compelling - I liked "influencer" Tania, who is far from the stereotype one might assume, though few understand her, certainly not her husband-to-be - and Raff, who works on Ruth's farm. Indeed all - or at least most - of the characters are, if not always likeable, at least understandable. (Diana's husband Perry doesn't have much to recommend him, any softer side being well hidden, and Olly's boss Angus is a horror.) I did occasionally get a bit confused about the relationships (Marta and Diana are related by marriage) and which children/grandchildren belonged to who.

Like everything else I've read by Amanda Craig, I loved this book, which has depth, insight and cracking storytelling. (It even made me laugh out loud a couple of times.) Highly recommended.

Ruth, at one point, ponders about how she and her friends are supposed to be "invisible, inaudible and negligible, as if they had nothing left to do or say. No wonder old women preferred to be portrayed as witches, or Fates, or Furies...". Here, though, they are the Three Graces: Beauty, Truth and Love. But which is which?