Gentrification, as they understood it, was something other people did.

CBR18 Bingo: Sheep – Anna and Tom daydream about buying a dairy in France and making artisan sheep and goat’s milk cheeses.

Tom had argued that Sicily had been a conformist, lazy choice, in a tone that suggested that the conformist wasn’t him.
― Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection

An identical struggle for a different life motivated an entire sector of their generation.
― Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection

Berlin was, to all intents and purposes, their main pastime—exploring it, understanding it, feeling part of it. In a way it defined them much more than their profession did. They liked their work but not enough to give more to it than was absolutely necessary. They had fallen into the job. Berlin, on the other hand, they had chosen.”
― Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection

Tom and Anna have the perfect life. As freelance web designers, they work from their Berlin flat and make their own schedule, which includes having the freedom to travel and to work remotely from sun-drenched terraces in southern Europe and cozy Central European cafes. They sip flat whites made from single-origin, free-trade coffee beans while the ubiquitous odor of cigarette smoke wafts in from the sidewalk. They spend their weekends by the canal in the center of Berlin, starting with espresso and bocce with friends, followed by free drinks at a fellow expat’s gallery opening nearby, then continuing their revelry with whomever still remains or has been absorbed into the friend group. Late at night, they queue in groups to get into techno clubs and then in shared bathroom cubicles for an energy boost before finally emerging into the bright, late morning sunshine of Sunday morning.

Tom and Anna don’t let this stop them from meeting their deadlines or offering to help local refugee volunteer groups by typesetting beautiful translation guides and volunteering at the local soup kitchen (but only the ones for the latest social crisis).

Now in their thirties, what sustained them emotionally and creatively in their twenties is gradually melting away. Their group of weekend warriors has shrunk, either because these friends left Berlin or because they have other things, such as a baby or a new relationship, consuming their attention. When Tom and Anna review their own Instagram posts, the shots of their espresso cup and monstera plant, honey-tinged in glow of late afternoon sun, exudes stagnation rather than hope and promise. They begin to look outside of Berlin, and accept temporary work assignments with housing, including two months in Portugal and four months in Sicily. With the steep hike in Berlin’s rents and with the cachet of tech startups moving into the city, they are able to sublet their flat and make a small profit.

The speedbumps that were fun challenges in their twenties become sources of friction in their relationship. Upon arriving in Lisbon, they quickly become disillusioned as they are unable to generate the same type of friend group they had when they moved to Berlin. Their free accommodation is shabby and drafty, and they believe that they simply chose the wrong city at the wrong time of year. They relocate to Sicily, and plan to find a sleepy fishing village where they can make friends with the elderly women at the local bakery and buy fresh fish at the docks. Instead, they discover that seaside cottages are already occupied by wealthy renters or owned by boutique hotel chains. They can only afford a small cottage far inland, one hour to the sea by car. Still under deadline, they work within the four walls of their countryside rental, and pick fights with one another.

Despite their disappointments, their social media posts are immaculate. Friends like their stunning photos of Italian cuisine and coastal drives. The same friends, from Berlin and elsewhere, inquire when they can come visit them in Sicily. However, these plans never materialize.

Tom and Anna constantly wonder what is wrong with them and why they cannot enjoy the picture-perfect life that their friends and acquaintances so clearly envy.

This book was darkly funny. Tom and Anna are so proud of themselves for the perfectly-curated life they portray via social media. They live their values of self-sufficiency and individualism. They only eat organic and vegetarian cuisine. They make a point to like and share articles among their friend group about the latest humanitarian disaster, and are a source of information to others in their circle who wish to join protests against the latest xenophobic political movement.

The more they inhabit the values that mark them as selfless and righteous, the harder they must convince themselves that they are truly special and that their increasingly more challenging and unsatisfying way of life is worth the doubt and financial tradeoffs.

I live in Europe and I loved this book as I am both critical of the Anna and Tom types and feel called-out at times for having similar beliefs and patting myself on the back for being a “good” expat. Everything that happens to Tom and Anna is deliciously satisfying as these two pretentious A-holes reckon with the unraveling of their ‘perfect’ lives.