The Olive Branch

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at the premise: *woman buys farmhouse sight unseen, hijinks ensue*. But *The Olive Branch* won me over by refusing to sand down the rough edges. Ruthie isn’t a plucky heroine; she’s a woman in her 40s with a failed marriage, a stalled career, and a bank account that’s *definitely* not ready for Italian property taxes. When she arrives in Puglia, the farmhouse is a disaster, the locals are skeptical, and the goat—oh, the goat—might be the most realistic character in the book. Jo Thomas writes rural life with a gardener’s precision: the backbreaking work of pruning olives, the politics of the weekly market, the way a village’s opinion of you can hinge on whether you remember to bring *cornetti* to the priest. Rachel Atkins’ performance is mostly excellent, though I’ll dock her half a star for occasionally overdoing the Italian accents (a few secondary characters veer into *Super Mario* territory). The pacing, however, is flawless—she lets the humor land in Ruthie’s dry asides and slows just enough during the quieter moments, like when Ruthie sits under the stars, wondering if she’s made another massive mistake. My only real critique? The romance subplot feels tacked on, like Thomas didn’t trust the farmhouse-goat-village triangle to carry the emotional weight. But the audiobook’s production elevates the material: the occasional background noise (a donkey braying, the clink of wine glasses) grounds the story in its setting without ever feeling gimmicky. If you’re craving a listen that’s equal parts heartwarming and clear-eyed—with a narrator who makes you *feel* the Mediterranean sun—this is your summer escape.