The beautiful Italian countryside always makes for a beautiful backdrop, but here it took particularly well to the story being told. I found myself particularly drawn to the setting. The farm and its inhabitants change first. Slowly but surely this beautiful creature changes everything. First comes the appearance of the unicorn. We see Claudio’s quiet, repetitive life up close – his caring for his animals, his tending to the farm, and the poetry he doesn’t want anyone to know he writes. It is just as much a tale of love and learning to forgive as it is a story about magic and unicorns. It is a slow, beautiful tale about the characters, their lives, and how they change.

But twists and turns aren’t something this tale needs. The story doesn’t go to places unforeseen, nor are there any shocking twists or turns along the way. Suddenly entrusted with this magical appearance, he finds himself beset upon by those who want the unicorn for their own ends, some of whom refuse to take no as an answer. But one day a unicorn that, if he isn’t mistaken, is about to give birth wanders onto his farm and calls it home. Beagle.Ĭlaudio Bianchi needs no one, opting to remain on his farm with his animals and his poetry to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. Books steeped in myth and folktale are ones that I am always drawn to, so it is with no surprise that I found myself with a copy of In Calabria by Peter S.

In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle