Synopsis:
When Katy’s mother dies, she’s left reeling from the loss. Carol had been her best friend, her anchor, and they’d been so close to their dream of travelling to Positano together.
Feeling untethered from her own life and unable to connect with anyone, Katy makes a rash decision. In a bid to keep her mother close, she follows in a young Carol’s footsteps, flying to Italy alone.
Katy had imagined a holiday painted by grief but finds more comfort than she had expected. Then, in a sharp twist of fate, Carol’s past and Katy’s present collide, leaving Katy to wonder if she ever really knew her mother at all…
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes:
- Time Travel
- Grief
- Love Triangle
- Slow Burn
Rebecca Serle is an author who I’ve seen floating around on the internet who’s not particularly popular on BookTok (or at least not that I’ve seen), but an author who I’ve been interested in exploring. I first became familiar with her work, with her book In Five Years Time, which I’m yet to read. I’d seen One Italian Summer floating around when I was researching my A-Z Reading Challenge letter choices and if I’m honest, the location of where the book was set instantly drew me in. I don’t even think I read the synopsis of the story, just that the idea of reading a book set in Italy was enough for me to add it as my choice for the letter O!
One Italian Summer follows Katy reeling in the death of her mother and best friend, who had all the answers to Katie’s questions. Now Katy must begin navigating life post her mothers death, only she’s faced with the devastating trip to Positano – a trip she’d planned to take with her mother, to experience the stories she was told by her mother when she was younger. The pair had planned an itinerary that would revisit memories that carol had the summer before she met Katy’s father. A trip Katy had waited years to experience, but now must do it alone.
Before Katy Leaves, she leaves the status of her marriage unknown, believing that she needs time to find herself again and is therefore, unsure on whether her marriage is survivable.
As soon as Katy steps foot on the Amalfi coast, she begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back.
In addition to her mother appearing, Katy meets a fellow and brooding American called Adam, who is scouting potential locations for the hotel company he works for.
Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. Additionally, Katy gets to know Adam romantically whilst struggling to connect with her life back home, due to poor communication.
As the story progresses, we see Katy desperately cling to the memories of her mother, whilst navigating her mother in the flesh, thirty years younger. The pair spend a series of days together experiencing the Italian lifestyle as friends, whilst Katy continues to get to know Adam.
When Katy visits her mother’s villa in Italy, she comes across a picture of a young girl who she recognises as herself. This leads Katy to realise that her mother tweaked the story she was told growing up and that her famous Italian trip took place during Katy’s early childhood. This deeply upsets Katy, who feels like her parent’s marriage was a lie, leaving Carol equally confused at the strangers sudden outburst. Katy becomes paranoid that Carol must follow through with the same steps as Katy’s history to ensure that she can be there for Katy’s childhood like she had been, but quickly realises that she can’t determine the future.
Katy leaves Carol to return back to the hotel where a strange thought occurs to her. The hotel staff reveal the current date, which is to be 30 years in the past. This reveals that Katy had been transported magically back to her mother’s famous Italian trip, where she experienced it for herself.
When Katy wakes up, she’s back in present day where she is met with a visit from her husband. The pair reunite and return home to navigate their family grief together.
I really enjoyed reading this type of book. A magical mystery isn’t a genre I could say I’ve ever ventured into, and I think maybe at the back of my mind, it’s been something I’ve wanted to experience. I didn’t even realise it was a magical mystery until towards the end of the book, I just couldn’t put my finger on what I thought it was.
Throughout the book, I questioned whether Katy’s mother was alive, which lead me to develop a series of theories on what I thought was happening. Initially, I thought Katy was in a coma following an accident, which was leading to her dreaming about her mother. Then as I read, I developed a theory that it wasn’t actually her mother – just a person that was very similar. It’s safe to say, I wasn’t expecting the time travel aspect of this book. It surprised me to say the least, but I didn’t not like it – I’m still undecided. I do like how at the end, I was able to understand what happened to the other characters we were introduced to – for example, we learned that Adam returned home and met his wife and went onto have children and also that he wasn’t successful in buying the hotel.
The story as a whole really tugged at my heartstrings, as someone who is also very close with their mother. It put my life into perspective and made me feel all the emotions of grief for myself and also for Katy.
As I read, I felt like I was following along in Katy’s grief and fully felt what she would’ve felt. What I’m surprised about, is that I didn’t cry at all when reading it. I felt the emotions in my chest, but never released them.
After reading this book, I didn’t feel like anything was missing, but I had hopes that she would’ve reunited with her mother despite the whole circumstances.
I liked how the end of the story was nicely explained and tied to a close – I liked that I feel peaceful that the characters are together and happy moving on with their lives.
Could it be classed as cheating when it’s during time travel and the reality isn’t real? Throughout the story, I wasn’t sure how to feel on Katy’s estranged marriage with her husband and her subsequent relationship with Adam. Then when I realised it was a magical mystery, I was even more unsure on how to feel.
I will say, emotions did hit at the end of the story during the author acknowledgements where it was shown that parts of the story were based on real people. For example, the location and hotel interactions in the book were based on a real family that own the hotel.
Overall, I loved experiencing a different genre of book and it’s got me excited to venture into more genres outside of romances and thrillers. I’m also equally intrigued to explore more of Rebecca’s writing.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Georgia
♥
