After the death of her mother, main character Katy Silver feels adrift. The story describes her relationship with her mother Carol and her marriage with her husband, Eric. Katy decides to go to Italy alone, because when Carol was alive, she would always describe the awesome summer she had when in Italy. Carol would talk about all the great restaurants she went to and the hotel she stayed at, Hotel Poseidon. 

Serle did a good job by describing the village of Positano, as I felt like I was in Italy the entire time I was reading it. Serle’s descriptions of the Amalfi Coast were spectacular, dreamy and accurate. Kudos to the author for being able to transport the reader to Italy with Katy. The scenery was just beautiful and described a typical Italian summer with wine, seafood, dancing and boat rides.

Serle convinced me through her incredible description of Italy that I should go there to see the beauty of the country myself, and of course, made me want to try the delicious food that Italy has to offer. My favorite parts of the book were, by far, the depictions of Italy. 

The relationship Katy has with her mother is unique, something I have never read in any other novel. Katy felt lost after losing her mother, and she felt like she had no purpose in life. Her mother was this perfect woman who was pretty, cooked delicious food, had a great sense of fashion and knew how to decorate her house. Katy admired her mother for all of these qualities.

Later, Katy meets a woman who looks just like her mother in Positano. The woman is just like a younger version of Carol. Katy doesn’t understand how this can all be happening, and the only thing she could think of was to be friends with this young woman. All she can focus on was that perhaps her mother came back from the dead. Over the course of the novel, Katy gets to know her mother as the young lady she once was. Katy realized her mother wasn’t how she thought her mother was. Carol was flawed, but beautifully flawed. 

I do feel bad for Katy’s husband, Eric. Eric was nothing but supportive of Katy when Carol passed away, but Katy shut Eric out. She would not talk to him or would act cold towards him. But, I guess I do understand why Katy did that. She was still mourning, as her mother just passed away, and she was trying to shut her feelings off. 

There is so much more in the novel that I didn’t want to spoil, and I will leave it for you to discover. I fished this book during spring break in three days. That’s how much I was enveloped in the story. It will make you want to keep learning more and more about its events. Full of mind-blowing twists and turns, I would definitely recommend this book to all the bookworms out there. 

In addition, just like the book, I would recommend watching the film in a family gathering.