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I was kindly gifted an advanced copy of this beautiful book by Rebecca Serle from Quercus so first of all a huge thank you to Quercus for sending this across to me. I first came across Rebecca Serle when I read her 2020 New York Times Bestseller, In Five Years. Her writing and her characters blew me away so when I heard she was to release her new novel One Italian Summer I knew I had to get my hands on a copy!
SYNOPSIS: When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. Their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know her mother, but as the young woman before Katy arrived. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
REVIEW: I feel like there should be a trigger warning with this book about it making you want to visit the Amalfi Coast in Italy the second you pick it up. The descriptions of food and the scenery were so excellently written it made my mouth water and my wanderlust grow deeper.
The chapters are short and quick chapters but the story builds at such a nice pace that you can’t help but become encapsulated with Katy and the amazing summer experience she’s having. Yet although the description of Italy was absolutely fantastic, another part of the story that I thought that Serle executed excellently was the description of Katy’s grief and how that impacted the way she felt and acted. I absolutely loved the concept of the story, as I could really feel the main character's grief.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, quick read that really packs a punch but also if you're newly single or going through grief, I think One Italian Summer is a great book to remind you why we need to keep living for our loved ones who can't anymore.
READ THIS IF:
🏖 You’re dealing with the loss of a loved one
🏖 You’re looking for a short, fast read that really packs a punch
🏖 You need to be reminded why it's important to travel the world
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