A quick read, and made me want to go to Italy (specifically Positano, loved the story of how it got its name!) like NOW!
Beautiful setting, interesting premise, but not at all what I thought it would be. Jacket says a young woman loses her mother, then takes the trip they had planned together only to meet a younger version of her mother on the trip and so she gets to know her mom in her youth. Of course, revelations occur and our heroine learns a lot about her mom and herself. But the book focuses more on her own marriage and flirty behavior while she takes a break from her husband, and all this mixed up together just did not meld for me. I would have much preferred the focus to be ONLY on the woman and her mom, and not hijacked by the flirting. Or at least maybe not as much as there was.
That being said, I did enjoy most of the story. There are many insights into how grief is experienced in many different ways; how one person should not be responsible for another's happiness; how sometimes letting go is the biggest act of love. I think there is a LOT to talk about here in book clubs, a lot to unpack about the mother-daughter relationship and whether it could be TOO close, and how even women of today who are supposedly so strong and independent still have a hard time making their own decisions for themselves. There are lots of fun book references here (pay attention to the prologue page, haha!), and this book will make you hungry for caprese everything. I think the biggest question we are all left with is this: What do you want? Meaning, don't let someone else tell you all the answers. Answer for yourself. I would still recommend it, but thought the ending came a bit too tidily. A fun, light read that will also make you think. 3.5 stars really, but I always round up!!
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