One Night in Italy

Is Italian really the language of love? A new class of students hopes to find out. Anna's recently been told the father she's never met is Italian. Now she's baking focaccia, whipping up tiramisu and swotting up on her vocabulary, determined to make it to Italy so she can find him in person. Catherine's husband has walked out on her, and she's trying to pick up the pieces of her life. But she'll need courage as well as friends when she discovers his deception runs even deeper than infidelity. Sophie's the teacher of the class, who'd much rather be back in sunny Sorrento. She can't wait to escape the tensions at home and go travelling again. But sometimes life - and love - can surprise you when you least expect it. As the evening class gets underway, friendships form and secrets from Italy begin to emerge. With love affairs blossoming in the most unlikely places, and hard decisions to face, it's going to be a year that Anna, Catherine and Sophie will never forget.

My opinion: I was really excited to read this book. I love a book with a beautiful Meditteranean setting and this book also has a gorgeous cover!

The book centres around three main characters, whose lives eventually become intertwined. Sophie has been travelling for years and is in Sorrento when she gets a call to say that her dad is ill. She ends up going back home to the UK and teaches an Italian class to make some money. She also has to face up to what she ran away from all those years ago. Catherine finds her husband in bed with another woman and when he leaves her she finds that their life together wasn't all it cracked up to be. She decides to make a new start and joins an Italian class to meet people and learn something new. Anna is a journalist who loves to cook. She has never known her father, but an elderly relative lets slip that he's Italian. Anna decides to learn some Italian so that when she eventually tracks her father down she will be able to converse in his mother tongue.

This book isn't small by any means, coming in at around 400 pages. But I really didn't want it to end. I loved this book right from the Harry Potter reference in the opening pages, right until I put it down and felt like I was leaving friends. I loved all of the characters and felt that I could have joined the Italian class and made friends with them all. I think my favourite was Catherine though and loved reading about her transformation from downtrodden housewife to independent woman.

This book also made me very hungry! The recipes cooked up by Anna (particularly the foccacia!) made my mouth water and I loved the bonus recipes at the back of the book. The book truly lives up to its beautiful cover and I would love to read more about any of the characters. I have always wanted to go to Italy and this book just made my ambition even stronger! A wonderful holiday read whether you are lying by the pool or having a staycation in the UK. I will definitely be reading more by Lucy Diamond.

My rating: A  bellisimo five stars

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review