In Calabria

Starred review from December 5, 2016
Acclaimed fantasist Beagle (Summerlong) sets this charming, lyrical tale of unicorns and love on a poor little hillside farm in the toe of boot-shaped Italy, where 47-year-old Claudio Bianchi scratches out a meager existence for himself, old dog Garibaldi, goat Cherubino, three cows, a pig, and three cats. Claudio writes poetry, too, and one day a golden-white unicorn appears to him as a gentle reminder of the freedom animals and humans have lost. The unicorn becomes the one miracle of Claudio’s life—and the ultimate tourist attraction. He protects her as best he can from hordes of reporters, television crews and helicopters, animal rights activists, yearning yokels, and even the Calabrian ’Ndràngheta mob. After Claudio helps the unicorn deliver her colt, his heart, frozen by an earlier tragedy, warms to Giovanna, the intrepid 20-ish sister of the postman. Neatly playing the strictures of Claudio’s simple rural life against the shimmering wildness of the unicorn, Beagle’s kindly fable shows how a man who seems to have nothing can really have everything—with just a touch of magic.

January 1, 2017
This is a pleasant snack of a story about an Italian farmer who encounters a unicorn that changes his life for the better. Curmudgeonly Claudio Bianchi lives alone on a remote, wind-swept farm in southern Italy, and he wants to keep it that way, thank you very much. The magical universe has other plans for him, as he discovers a mysterious and pregnant unicorn serenely grazing on his land. Day by day, Claudio comes out of his shell and finds his inner poet with a fledgling ability to love again. This is a story more about redemption and healing than about unicorns, but its soft and subtle phrasing is a pleasing and pastoral look at the power of forgiveness. The unicorns are as otherworldly and majestic as one would hope, and the touches of magic are like wisps of a song you can't quite remembera little bit frustrating not to have more supernatural elements, but yet it stays tantalizing to the end. Beagle's many fans will be pleased.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)