One Italian Summer was a great book to kick off my summer reading! The food references, the scenery, the touching story…I loved it all!
Why I read One Italian Summer
Let’s be honest, this book has been all over bookstagram and chances are, a couple of your friends have already read it, too.
What is the book about?
The story picks up just as the main character, Katy, is beginning a new chapter in her life – one without her life’s VIP, her mother. When Carol dies of cancer, Katy is left to face the world without the one person that was her everything. In the wake of her grief, Katy needs to decide if her husband is really the one she wants to spend forever with, and really if her life is the life she wants to live.
Katy takes the trip to the Amalfi Coast that she was meant to take with her mother, but she goes it alone. She hopes to find answers to her confusion, but what she finds is much much more. She finds the 30 year old version of her mother. At first she can’t believe it’s her, but as she realizes what a gift she’s been given, she begins to realize not just more about who her mother was a human, but in turn, who she is. Independent of Carol, but who the true Katy is.
What I loved about the story
A good book has the ability to transport us. You know it’s good when you can imagine what the food tastes like, or you can visualize the view of the Mediterranean Sea from your striped beach towel. Taking a trip to Italy for about $15 is crazy to think about, but in the literary world, that’s exactly what happens!
The imagery in One Italian Summer is for sure the best! I have spent a few weeks in Italy before, but not the Amalfi Coast. So while I can definitely draw on my past trip, this book made me want to book my tickets to Positano ASAP! I can almost taste the pasta and seafood, and smell the salty seaside air. Hiking up the steps to the Path of the Gods has been officially added to my itinerary. And spending a day on the beach with a good book is never, ever a bad idea.
I also really loved the idea of showcasing Carol as her own person with an entire beautiful life, independent of her family. As a mother, I know that my life looks drastically different than it did pre-children and I’m sure plenty of you can say the same. There was something very honoring about the way that Katy was able to see Carol apart from being her mother.
My rating of One Italian Summer
Overall, I’m so happy to give One Italian Summer book a solid 4 star rating. I’ve been in a slump of 3 stars (which are still great book, by the way!) and this was an excellent pull out of that. Well done, Rebecca Serle!
For this review and many more, plus what I’m reading now, visit me on GoodReads. Thanks so much for checking out the Collective!
– Sarah
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