Published by embla books 2022
391 pages
ISBN 978-1-47141-160-1
Genre: Romance
Keywords: UK- Italy, Positano; family business; family relationships; antiquities;
Grade 2/5
Will I read more by this author: no
Marci is almost 30 years old, single, married to her job in the family business of antiquities. Her father had established the business and when he suddenly died her mother continued to run the shop until Marci and her older brother, Guy, took over some years ago. Marci travels often to Italy to find antiquities where her godfather Richard joins her in her search. Richard was her father’s best friend and also has a shop for antiquities. Many years ago, he moved to Positano, Italy, but he has kept close contract with Marci and her brother a well as their mother.
They are very surprised when they receive a letter from Richard where he requests a favor, to close his shop and sell the content of his store in Positano because he has married Angela and is travelling in the Far East. As Richard has always helped out and never asked for anything, they decide that Marci who has not had a holiday in 5 years, should go to Positano and get his things in order, she is the closest to Richard, he has been like a second father since her mother remarried a man that Marci is not comfortable around.
Marci plans to stay in Positano for two months to get Richard’s thing in order. When she there she is met by Nico whom Richard has persuaded to help Marci when she comes; she will stay at the hotel of Nico’s parents, Luca and Celia, they also have a restaurant that Richard often went to. They had ‘adopted’ Richard into their family. Marci finds when she arrives that everybody knows her because Richard has been talking about her as if she was his real daughter, not just a goddaughter. Marci has to get to know everybody who are mostly from the extended family of Luca. It turns out that Celia is English, came to Positano with her son Nico when he was three years old. Luca adopted Nico as his own son. There are other British people settled in the area like Ollivia and Jack. Olivia is between jobs so she helps Marci to pack all of Richard’s treasures as they find it easier to send every thing to England and sell it through their shop.
We follow Marci as she gets to know the people and the family, she eats a lot of Italian food and packs all of Richard’s treasures.
About 50 pages into the book, I guessed what would be at the end, so no surprise. I was disappointed by how little Positano played as a background in the book; it could have been set anywhere. I sit with the feeling that the author has never visited there (so I have put photos from my visit there in 2015!)
In the book there is a lot of talk about family, commitment to the family expectations; like Nico feels it is expected of him to take over the restaurant so the extended family who work there will continue to work there and be supported. But he does know to cook so he feels committed to marry the cook, Guilia, she is not family so she can not take over the business. On the same note Guy and Marci have problems with their mother, she does not want to advance, update the company but stay the same because it has always been enough.
There is a lot of talk and preparing Italian food - too much to my taste, anyways, I prefer French food and wines.
In the end all is revealed as I expected. The ‘right’ people get each other as should be in a romance novel.
A quote:
Page 73: Marci envied the skill of being able to slip effortlessly between two very different languages.
Well, Marci did not speak Italian, which is really the only way to really get submerged into another culture.
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