Cafe Tempest, written by Barbara Bonfigli, is a fictional novel about Sarah, an American writer and theatrical producer. Sarah currently lives in London, spending her fourth Summer holidaying on the Greek Island of Pharos. Sarah ends up spending longer than anticipated on the island due to the venue of her forthcoming show becoming unavailable. She is asked to direct the annual production of the Pharos Players, the islands’ amateur dramatic group. She chooses Shakespheare’s Tempest, perhaps not the easiest of plays, for her directorial debut.

I found some of the characters on the island a bit too stereotypical, e.g. Tula the housekeeper watering Sarah’s espadrilles and thundering around in tyranical maid mode, rendering Sarah unable to work.

I thought that the revelation that Sarah was bisexual, along the lines of “you love who you love” and “why exclude half of potential lovers”, more as a supposed shock value device than anything particularly challenging. Sarah falls in love with Monika, a Swedish painter, who initially is unsure if she wants to tip her toe into the world of bisexuality. Simultaneously Theo, the good looking local doctor, is falling for Sarah.

The book is entitled Cafe Tempest due to the Greek tendency to turn every rehearsal in to a culinary feast of local specialities. You wish you were at the rehearsals when you read about the Players tucking into freshly baked Tiropitas (Cheese Pies), Zucchini Fritters, Dholmades (Stuffed Vine Leaves) and lemon cake. Fortunately the recipes for some of these dishes are printed at the back of the novel.

Barbara Bonfigli

I found the constant references to mantras annoying. I know that Sarah has been commissioned to write a piece on mantras and this certainly seems to be carrying through to her personal life. By the end I was chanting “ditch the mantras”.

Whilst Cafe Tempest is undoubtedly a very cleverly constructed and written book, the central character is too self-absorbed in the vein of “the world revolves around me” for my liking. Although the book purports to work at a deep level of self discovery and reflection, for me it worked best on a superficial level as a bit of light-hearted escapism to a beautiful Greek island, where I would probably gain around 10 pounds in weight a week with all the delicious food on offer.

Information about the virtual tour, the author and the book:

I received a complimentary copy of Cafe Tempest for review purposes as part of Barbara’s virtual book tour. Here’s complete tour schedule.

Visit Cafe Tempest to find out more.

Visit the Barbara Bonfigli website.

You can order the book directly from the publisher Tell me Press or from Amazon.