An Italian Summer by Fanny Blake
A warm story filled with wit, compassion, insight and intelligence, An Italian Summer is a story about friendship, family secrets and second chances. A captivating mystery at its heart keeps you guessing on what that mystery is. Set in Italy, Fanny Blake's descriptive writing brings Rome and Naples vividly to life.
You feel you are right in the heart of Italy - landmarks like the Colosseum, the Amalfi coast and the ancient charm of Pompeii. You can almost feel the intense heat of the sun and taste the food. Sandy is the character at the heart of this story, but we are also introduced to the others in her tour group getting a feel for who they are and the intricacies of their personal lives.
I really enjoyed this book - a wonderful page-turner. Building to an unexpected and clever twist, I didn't want to put it down. Sandy is in her fifties and at a crossroads in her life. She has lost her husband and is unsure of how she wants to move on with a new love interest in her life. A teacher, she's respected by her pupils, but feels she is being side-lined in favour of younger colleagues. So, when her mother dies, leaving a mystery to solve, Sandy decides to head to Italy to get to the bottom of it.
The only thing she has been left is an envelope addressed in her mother's handwriting to a Signora Anna Viglieri, Naples and the entries in her mother's old travel journal, long forgotten at the back of a drawer in her mum's house. She books herself on to a small sightseeing trip from Rome to Naples, hoping to meet some like-minded people along the way only to find that a rival work colleague has also booked on the holiday.
Submitted by Kathy
