The Good Mayor

by Andrew Nicoll

In a busy little city in a forgotten corner of the Baltic, in an office on the square, the beloved mayor of Dot lies on his office floor, peering beneath his door. Tibo Krovic has come to work from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385343124
• ISBN13: 9780385343121
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

'Add to Shopping Cart'

I wanted to offer you a quote from this book. Something to whet your appetite for The Good Mayor. Something to show the deliciousness of the story, the delightful wordplay. Part of me is reluctant to share though. It should be experienced first-hand. I want you to discover its surprises for yourself, without me looking over your shoulder and pointing them out. So here is your quote: "Love is ordinary, love is dull, love is the natural condition of the human heart, love is the message we carry branded on us from the womb but only the best of us will dare to read it and, even when we dare to read it to people who can never understand, it is still there in us like the rings in a tree or the ridges in a shell, part of us, marking the years and the drought and the growth, even if nobody sees it until the tree is cut down." Insightful, beautifully expressed, and yet it gives nothing away. Nothing of the windy streets of Dot, where I was warmed by the author's unique voice. Nothing of Agathe, a Dottian who longs to become a Dalmatian, or Tibo, who longs for Agathe. This is a love story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But it is not ordinary. It's timeless. It's quirky. There are classical references to follow, fantasy elements to make you wonder, and unexpected wit. It's a book worthy of its award as Scotland's First Book of the Year. Worth reading. Worth loving.

super whimsical romance

For two decades Tibo Krovic has served as THE GOOD MAYOR of Dot on the Baltic Sea. He has been in love with his secretary Agathe Stopak for years, but does his best to hide his feelings from her and everyone. Besides being his employee, she is married to a drunk. Agathe is sad as her marriage lacks love. She visits the Italian psychic Strega Mamma Cesare and soon afterward takes a closer look at her boss. Tibo knows something has changed in the office, but is not sure what. For the next few weeks, the pair keeps their distance as much as possible until one day he asks her to go to lunch. She accepts and they enjoy their meal together but being ethical he refuses to cross the line so she looks elsewhere. THE GOOD MAYOR is a super whimsical romance with pathos and humor enhancing a profound look at Tibo and Agathe. Whimsy is the prime element throughout even describing the country at the onset. The fully developed lead couple affirms that love is so capricious and quirky it is the ultimate proof of chaos theory. Fans will relish this wonderful charming love story while wondering whether a happy ever after is in store for protagonists. Harriet Klausner

Beguiling, magical love story

The Good Mayor is Scottish author Andrew Nicoll's debut novel. Nicoll is a former lumberjack turned newspaper journalist who wrote The Good Mayor on his commute back and forth to work. It's an absolutely quirky, offbeat, enchanting, magical love story. This tale is narrated by St. Walpurnia, a bearded nun, who has watched over the small town of Dot, in a forgotten corner of the Baltic, for many, many years. Tibo Krovic is the mayor of Dot. He is known as Good Mayor Krovic as he always says and does the right thing. The good mayor has harboured a secret for many years. He is in love with his lonely, married secretary - Mrs. Agathe Stopak. But he worships from afar, or at least peeking under the crack in his office door, afraid to let her know of his feelings. One day fate, or St. Walpurnia, steps in and it seems like the good mayor and Mrs. Stopak may have a chance at true love. But the path of love is almost always crooked.... Now it sounds like a mushy love story but it's anything but. We have Strega Mamma Cesare (an Italian witch) who sees and knows much more about Dot and its' inhabitants than anyone realizes. " Small and brown, Mamma Cesare waddled in front of them like a magic toadstool leading two lost children through a fairy story." And that is the feel of The Good Mayor - a fairy tale for adults. Anyone who loved the film The Princess Bride will be enchanted by this story. There is a circus troupe that only some can hear and see, but they seem to appear at the most opportune moments. And an enigmatic, very overweight lawyer who seems to also know a bit more than he should. "...nothing in Dot is ever just quite what it seems. Nothing." The story itself is charming but it is Nicoll's language and telling of the story that make it so wonderful. The thoughts, the feelings, the descriptions -all of it captured and held me until I reluctantly turned the last page. As St. Walpurnia says "Anyway, this story is much more about the telling than the things that happen in it..." Tender, funny, charming and beguiling - this one will stay with you and make you wish for a little bit of magic in your life...