The book One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle is a great read. This book is a beautifully written exploration of love, loss and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter.
The story follows Katy, a young woman reeling from the sudden loss of her mom. When Katy takes a solo trip to Italy, she ends up on a journey of self-discovery that forces her to confront her grief in profound ways.
The mother (Carol) and her daughter (Katy) make plans to visit the Amalfi Coast, but Carol falls ill and dies. The tickets are already booked, so Katy decides it would be good for her to get away for a while and go on the vacation. When she arrives at the hotel, she sees her mother – only she is 30 years younger.
Katy and young Carol bond like they have been friends forever. Katy reflects on how wonderful it is to see her mother again, as she misses her immensely. She talks about how grief has changed her since losing her best friend. The time traveling premise of this book is refreshing, providing Katy a chance to reconnect with someone from the past and relive a time when they were young and naive.
Reconnecting with a younger version of a loved one through time travel gives Katy the opportunity to explore the origins and evolution of an important relationship.
Whether it’s a romantic partnership, a familial bond or a deep friendship, the time travel element allows her to witness pivotal moments from the past that shaped that connection. After her mother’s death, Katy is at her childhood home in the U.S, the one her mother had lovingly decorated with her signature flair. Her mother’s enormous, luxurious furniture, which she painstakingly chose over the years, is covered in fabrics with floral prints. On the kitchen table, there is always a fresh set of flowers.
Everywhere Katy looks, she is just surrounded by all the little things from her childhood – the sights, sounds, even the smells that she knew so well. It is like a total blast from the past, both comforting and heartbreaking at the same time.
Yet, as Katy begins to explore her mother’s younger self through the story’s time travel element, she develops an even richer appreciation for the woman her mother had been. The younger version of her mother wasn’t afraid of life and was always out there meeting new people and enjoying the Italian sun.
Witnessing pivotal moments from the past allows Katy to empathize with her mother’s struggles and insecurities, humanizing her in profound new ways. Gradually, Katy’s grief begins to evolve, as the time travel presented opportunities for her to express the depth of her love and gratitude before it was too late.
One Italian Summer has a lot of elements that contribute to its exceptional reading experience.
Katy’s emotional journey is expertly handled by the author as she moves from the depths of loss to a point of acceptance and gratitude for her mother’s memories. When Katy returns to her childhood home, for example, the bittersweet wave of nostalgia and desire is evident, demonstrating how expertly Serle depicts the subtleties of human emotion.
The journey from love to loss and, finally, to a revitalized sense of purpose is the strong arc that strikes a deep chord in any reader who picks up the book.
This book is excellent for helping readers connect with their own emotions, enabling them to find inspiration in Katy’s recovery process as well as to feel understood in their own loss.