The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

The Imperfectionists is a series of vignettes that tells the story of several "imperfect" people involved with the  publication of an unnamed English language newspaper in Rome.  Why the mysterious businessman, Cyrus Ott, choose Rome as the newspaper's headquarters is a recurring question answered in  the last few pages of the book.   An interest in newspaper publication is not needed to be charmed by this book.  The stories occur over a period of 50 years and each features one of the staffers as a main character. Several of these characters reappear as a minor characters in subsequent chapters which  keeps the reader returning to prior vignettes for clarification. This might sound tedious, but it isn't.  By the end of the Imperfectionsists we have seen several of the staffers from different perspectives-- sometimes favorable, sometimes not.  Each story has a "gotcha"  or a least a bit of twist.   This is a book that will appeal to reading groups because of it's quick pace and originality.  There is humor and heartbreaking tragedy.  Highly recommended and worth reading more than once.