Name: Genesis (@whisperingchapters)'s review of One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
Item: One Italian Summer
Rating: 4
Author: Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Rebecca Serle

The New York Times bestselling author of the “heartwarming, heartbreaking, and hard to put down” (Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author) modern classic In Five Years returns with a moving and unforgettable exploration of the powerful bond between mother and daughter set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast. When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, 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. 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. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. 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. Rebecca Serle’s next great love story is here, and this time it’s between a mother and a daughter. With her signature “heartbreaking, redemptive, and authentic” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) prose, Serle has crafted a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us.

A Novel

One Italian Summer

Amelia Hruby

History, memory is by definition fiction. Once an event is no longer present, but remembered, it is narrative. And we can choose the narratives we tell—about our own lives, our own stories, our own relationships. We can choose the chapters we give meaning.

as someone who fears change i needed to see this

naura

“There is more to life than just continuing to do what we know.

What got you here won’t get you there.”

Sara🌻

"History, memory is by definition fiction. Once an event is no longer present, but remembered, it is narrative. And we can choose the narratives we tell—about our own lives, our own stories, our own relationships. We can choose the chapters we give meaning." 

"History is an asset, not a detriment. It's nice to be with someone who knows you, who knows your history. It will get even more important the longer you live. Learning how to find your way back can be harder than starting over. But, damn, if you can, it's worth it."

"There is more to life than just continuing to do what we know." 

"There's something about photography I love. A whole memory, caught in a moment." 

"Never trust anyone who hasn't had their heart broken. It's a before and after. You never quite see the world the same way again."

"That the same set of circumstances, beliefs, actions that got you to a moment won't get you to what comes next. That if you want a different outcome, you have to behave differently. That you have to keep evolving." 

"Sometimes you need time away to figure out how you feel about something. It's hard to know or to see what something is when it's right here, up close, all the bright and harsh details." 

"What if we never got to where we were trying to go because we were so comfortable where we were?"

"You act like you don't know how you got here, like you just woke up and looked around and thought, huh—but I have news for you. Even inaction is a choice" 

"There was always food in the fridge, wine in the side door, and fresh-cut flowers on the table."

"I do not imagine ever coming to terms with the loss of her body—her warm, welcoming body. The place I always felt at home. My mother you see, is the great love of my life. She is the great love of my life, and I have lost her."

Daniel Lindquist

Every day the world is born again. Every day the sun rises. It is a miracle, I think. A simple, everyday miracle. Life.

History, memory is by definition fiction. Once an event is no longer present, but remembered, it is narrative. And we can choose the narratives we tell - about our own lives, our own stories, our own relationships. We can choose the chapters we give meaning. 

"What's your favorite place youve ever been?" I ask Adam. “Wherever I'm going next," he says.

The thing I never told Eric, because I didn't know how to say it without inviting in another conversation, because I didnt know how to tell anyone, is that I had no interest in doing anything that would sustain my life anymore

Lizeth Esmeralda

"Katy," he tells me. "History is an asset, not a detriment. It's nice to be with someone who knows you, who knows history. It will get even more important the longer you live. Learning how to find your way back can be harder than starting over. But, damn, if you can, it's worth it.”

What got you here won’t get you there. 

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Something different,” she said. “There’s more to life than just continuing to do what we know.”

“…But it would be a shame if you kept doing something only because you've done it before."

The One, but looking back, it feels arbitrary, like I'm not sure what criteria I was using to evaluate him, the relationship, any of it. I wanted someone to think I belonged to them, the way I belonged to my family. That's how I figured I'd know. But now - What if I got it all wrong? What if the point of marriage wasn't to belong but instead to feel transported? What if we never got to where we were trying to go because we were so comfortable where we were?

"One should always let waiters choose food, and builders choose wood," she says. "Something my father used to say."

"You act like you dont know how you got here, like you just woke up and looked around and thought, Huh - but I have news for you. Even inaction is a choice.”

i am somewhere new, where I have to be nimble, alert, present. It force into the moment in a way I haven't been in a year, maybe eve ever. 

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

It may not be for everyone, but I love Rebecca Serle's magical realism. The portrait of grief was convincing. And the perfect week in Positano? What a delight!

An amazing story about losing yourself in grief and finding your way out of it. Definitely recommend the audiobook narrated by Lauren Graham. I can definitely say that this is one of those books that made me want to visit the place that it is based in. The descriptions of this beautiful place in Italy, the food and even some historical background was amazing and definitely appreciated because you will be crying throughout the whole book. 

Leah Diaz 

Heartfelt, deep, beautiful. This one touched me. Familial love, platonic love, romantic love, self-love...and Italy. One of those books that changes you.

Bethany

I lost my dad the year I read this. He was my best friend and first call for so many things. Rebecca Serle so perfectly captures the feeling of losing that guiding light. How lost and confused you feel, and how unfair it all is. But more than that she captures the feeling after, when you start moving forward again, that feeling everyone who has to grieve waits to feel. More than any plot point, setting, or character in this book her ability to make me say “yes, exactly that” about feelings i haven’t been able to explain is what makes this book so magical for me.

Alison Mejury

Sarah Sammis

** spoiler alert **
           Before Katy can even begin to work through her grief, she meets the most unexpected person — her mother but at age thirty. Of course they become fast friends and spend most of their free time together. Katy begins to relearn how live life and have fun with a woman who seems must less organized and way more spontaneous than the woman she knew and loved.

Vying for her attention, though, is Adam. He's everything Eric isn't. He's also willing to date her even though she's married. With Adam Katy has to make a decision: him or Eric? In this regard, One Italian Summer feels like it's at the Venn diagram union of The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (1922) and Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella (2020).

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...

33CC99 family uhoria labyrinth

Christina Rose Sullivan

the ending was pretty decent but overall it was mostly predictable and cheesy. beginning made want to gag at how obsessed she is with her mom 🤢 Very similar to her other book, In Five Years- I guess she likes time travel!

Iris

Bethany s. 

** spoiler alert **
           No. No, no, no no no no no. 

I read this via audiobook, which is narrated by the spectacular and illustrious Lauren Graham. She was perfect. 

This book though… man. I hated every second of it. The poor writing, the confusing plot, the stupid internal monologue that reflected the disbelief I was feeling, KATY assuming she has some kind of right to meddle in EVERYONE’s lives after knowing them for a week, and the seeming disregard for morality. Am I supposed to be happy that she cheated on her husband, never told him, and just moved on with her marriage with not even a discussion? Didn’t she have sex with her husband in the same bed while thinking about her affair?! UGH. Gross! 

Also, if you’re writing a modern day time traveling story and you want the reader to be invested and able to suspend belief to any degree, do not write the words similar to: it was almost impossible that my dead mother was standing before me. I was done from that point. I hoped for redemption in the ending, but alas- there was none. This was just, blech.

Keely Calagos

This is marketed as a beach read but aside from being set in a small town on the coast of Italy, this is NOT a light beachy read.

If you saw me reading this on the beach, there is a 30% chance you'd also see me crying on the beach. Typically, I'm an end-of-the-book crier, but this book had me crying throughout. The highs and lows of this book capture grief perfectly.

After losing her mother to cancer, Katy takes the Italian vacation they were supposed to take together. Even with a beautiful backdrop of the Italian seaside, grief was right there with me as the reader and Katy as the character. Throughout her weeks in Italy, Katy discovers herself, meets new people, and eats a whole lot of AMAZING food. The food descriptions had me drooling and a #goodreadsgreateats will be hitting my Instagram VERY soon.

 My mother was the first person you called for a recipe (a cup of onions, garlic, don’t forget the pinch of sugar) and the last one you called at night when you just couldn’t sleep (a cup of hot water with lemon, lavender oil, magnesium pills). She knew the exact ratio of olive oil to garlic in any recipe, and she could whip up dinner from three pantry items, easy. She had all the answers. I, on the other hand, have none of them, and now I no longer have her. 

4/5 stars

I just finished reading the book one Italian summer and while I was fresh in the mindset of reading this book I thought I would give you some of my thoughts, this was my first book of 2024 and before this I was not a big reader, this book was very enjoyable the author made me feel like I was really inside this book in Italy! The book was very good and I didn’t have to put a lot of effort into reading it, though I felt like I kept waiting for something and it never happened in some places it dragged and was just really slow and within the last like 30 pages everything just came in crashing without a lot of explanation still feel a little confused and have a lot of questions.

Bookster

Have tissues near by. Very sweet book. This book also put Positano and Hotel Poseidon on my travel list.

Brittany

Elizabeth Wood

I enjoy Rebecca Serle’s books because of the abstract parts. Seems to be traditional fiction with a twist. I didn’t think this was as good as In Five Years, but I did love the setting of Italy. 🥰

audrey 

This books was so amazing the way that katy describes italy makes it sound like a fever dream there are so many quotes from this book that i have underlined everyone on earth should read this book it’s that good

towards the end there was a lack of explanation for the time slip, very little acknowledgment of it even and also her fully cheating on her husband and then not telling him??? idk it killed a lot of the vibe.

it was also written very jaggedly even, a lot of short sentences and stream of consciousness almost that made it disjointed a lot and hard to get into 

Cici Pearson

towards the end there was a lack of explanation for the time slip, very little acknowledgment of it even and also her fully cheating on her husband and then not telling him??? idk it killed a lot of the vibe.

it was also written very jaggedly even, a lot of short sentences and stream of consciousness almost that made it disjointed a lot and hard to get into 

really enjoy the book, the description of everything made me really want to visit Italy, it romanticizes the fuck out of it and i loved it, this gave me severe mommy issues until i realized she was only child haha, her and adam’s relationship seems not necessary in a romantic way, like nothing happened after they slept with each other like it didn’t push to see her husband in any different light until he came to see her at the end which i thought it was nice, the plot twist was cool, but i would reread it just feel the italian sun in my face 

debbie <3

this book was so beautifully written. she was so descriptive of her surroundings and just made me feel like i was in italy living my life. there were parts where i was bored ofc, but the mother daughter relationship and little plot twist really did it for me. this wasn’t a romance but a women’s fiction? idk but i really enjoyed it 

julie reads

Found the main character way too obsessed with her mom in a cringey way. I did enjoy the twists and ultimate message at the end.

Shelby Wheeler

Caitlin Moore

4.5 Stars

One thing I loved about this book, that is personal to me, is that my grandfather was in Italy as I read it. As the author described the different beautiful places, I felt like a piece of me was there with him. 

This book was so beautiful and magical. It answered questions that I didn't know I had, and opened up the wanderlust side of me. Was it a perfect book? No. But really, and I think this is the whole point of the book, that's life. 

Maybe it is a 5 star. who knows.

I know this might not be a book for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Learning how to deal with grief and loss isn’t easy, especially when you have other people to think about other than yourself (spouse, children, etc). There are times where you don’t feel like you got the closure that you needed and feel like a shell of a person until you work yourself through your emotions. At the beginning of the book, I feel like Katy really struggled with closure after her mom’s death, and I believe that her trip to Italy allowed her to find the closure she needed in order to get back to her life and husband. 

Lauren Lipford

Alexandria Ferley

Kelly

Overall, I enjoyed this read. 

It was sadder than I expected, and sometimes a tad confusing, but the vivid imagery really makes you feel like you’re in Positano with Katy. 

This is a touching story with a beautiful setting, and I’d recommend it.

Sarah Pino

I can tell that I'm going to think of this book for a very long time.

I wanted a book that would take me somewhere far away and make me think and make me fall in love and would touch my heart. This was exactly it.

Autumn

I agree with what people say about what bothered them with this book. It was very strange the relationship between Katy and her mother and how she thought she was her one true love even over her husband…? 

However, the book truly took me back to the beautiful Positano! The writers descriptions felt like I was there and I really loved that she used real places/landmarks. This book was a fun quick read that made me want to go back to Italy stat!

Catherine Duplessis

Rebecca Serle write in such a magical way. I read this book so fast. I glided through the pages. The characters are complex, mature, lovable, reflective and inspiring. This book feels like a breath of fresh Italian summer air.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle takes it's reader in a magical adventure of rediscovering oneself, loss, mother-daughter bond, and family all the way to Italy.

Katy goes through a heart-wrenching loss when her best friend—her mom—passes away after a long fight with an illness. Because her mom was her everything—the person she went to for questions, answers, ideas, advice—she's suddenly confused and wondering what to do next. They had already planned on going to Italy as a mother-daughter trip. While Katy is unsure about going by herself, her husband pushes her in the right direction.

Positano, Italy is the place where Carol had thrived in right before meeting Katy's dad. Naturally, Katy wants to see what had her mother falling in love with the place. And she totally gets it! Italy is beautiful with its culture, the people, the food! She's realizing why her mother loved this place so much. What she doesn't expect is to encounter her mother, who's dead, right in the hotel she's staying at.

I honestly had no idea what to expect with this story. On one hand, I was absolutely enamored with the setting! The author used such brilliant imagery that it had me feeling as if I were right alongside Katy experiencing every magical moment she was living. When it came to her mom seemingly not being dead, it threw me for a loop! What was reality?

“It would be a shame if you kept doing something only because you've done it before.”

Katy ends up embarking on a journey and getting to know her mom all over again; this time, in a new light. Their connection still felt so profound and beautiful and never-changing. I can't say more without spoiling, because you truly have to go in completely blind to get the full experience. I will say this story made me appreciate the moments I have with my own mom and to never take them for granted.

I do not belong to anyone. Not in that way, not any longer. I am my own, just as she was hers.

Even days later, I'm still processing and contemplating this story. One Italian Summer left a major impact in my life. The writing mixed with the magical setting is timeless and unforgettable. I found this story to be wonderful, remarkable, heartwarming, unique, profound, emotional, surprising, and extraordinary.

I will end this review with a quote I found in the acknowledgements that I just have to share with you. It just goes to show how breathtaking of an author is Rebecca Serle:

One of life's most important challenges is determining what to hold on to and what to let go of. Do not be fooled into believing that you do not know which is which. Follow the feeling, follow it all the way home.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle