I honestly wasn’t expecting that much from this book but it turned out to be quite the delightful little read! It’s a gentle musing on Matar’s month spent in Siena, observing paintings and making acquaintances with the locals and just generally musing on life. I sometimes found the art passages a little harder to follow than his recollections of chance meetings with strangers, but I still thoroughly enjoyed them, and this book made me want to run away to Siena and drink coffee on little terraces and wile away afternoons in front of paintings. I’m so intrigued by the tragic story of Matar’s father, and I’ll definitely be seeking out his other nonfiction and fiction.

The author reads this himself and he has a beautiful voice to listen to, 10/10 audiobook experience.