Café Tempest

Adventures On A Small Greek Island

Fiction - Humor/Comedy
312 Pages
Reviewed on 08/10/2009
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

Sarah and her friend Alexandra are on a much needed vacation on a small greek island.  The locals are putting on their summer theatrical production and ask Sarah to direct it.  She could not have picked a better play than Shakespears Tempest.  Everything seems to revolve around food.  (My kind of place.)  

Barbara Bonfigli transports readers to a Greek island in her debut book Café’ Tempest.  Her descriptions of the landscape and culture are exquisite; no detail was too small.  The characters are unconventional and delightful.   Bonfigli writes as though Café Tempest is her memoir.  When in fact it is fiction (or so she tells us.)   She shares the description of food that will make you long for a morsel.  Bonfigli combines humor and wisdom in her book.  Don’t let the light hearted manner in which it is written fool you.  There is great depth to this story.   Everything about this book is superb, from the cover, to the story line, to the characters.  This is the perfect summer read.

B. Tabach

This book, through its vivid and lush descriptions of the many characters - their traditions and customs - and their surrounding landscapes, really makes you feel as if you are on the island of Pharos! Thanks to a glossary of terms, I even learned survival Greek!
But, the true beauty of Ms. Bonfigli's book is that it gave me, quite unexpectedly, a greater appreciation for respecting alternative lifestyles. Her book poignantly points out that, "You love who you love ... the heart doesn't notice anything else and only knows that it's happy ... the brain doesn't interfere". As Shakespeare says, "It's all one!"

K. Topin

Barbara Bonfiglis' Cafe Tempest lures you in with her sense of humor(the laugh out loud kind) her "colorful characters" who inhabit the island and the beauty and slow pace of the island of Pharos. This was a unique and delicious read that leaves you wanting to know more about these people and waiting for the next chapter in sarahs life. I was asked who I saw possibly playing Sarah and Alex in a movie of the book. Still thinking about that one but the movies's a great idea!

Michele Joan Kohn

Cafe Tempest has a grand joy of life and an open-hearted sense of adventure that are exhilarating. Its understated wit, laugh-out-loud humor, vivid language, and moments of poetry kept me turning pages at a fast clip. If you are the kind of reader who likes to enjoy every page you will love this book.