Reviewed by Emma Crowley
A summer escape she'll never forget . . .
Lucia has worked hard as a lawyer in Wales, aiming for a big promotion she hopes will shortly come her way. Finally taking a well-earned break at her grandparents' house in southern Italy, the sunshine, lemon trees and her nonna's mouth-watering cooking make her instantly feel at home.
But she's shocked to learn that her grandfather is retiring from the beloved family pizzeria and will need to sell. Lucia can't bear the thought of the place changing hands - especially when she discovers her not-quite-ex-husband Giacomo wants to take it over!
Then bad news from home forces Lucia to re-evaluate what she wants from life. Is this her chance to carry on the family tradition and finally follow her dreams?
Many thanks to Random House UK via NetGalley for my copy of Chasing the Italia Dream to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Jo Thomas is the absolute queen when it comes to writing books that whisk you away to another country and in doing so really take your mind off everything going on in the world at the moment. Her new book is no exception, Chasing the Italian Dream is pure perfection from beginning to end. What’s even better is that recently we seem to be getting both a Summer and Winter book from Jo and I hope this will long continue as it means the gap between each new book is not too long and I feel I can just about manage the wait between reads. Although I feel like I say this every time I read a book by this wonderful author, this is definitely her best book yet and I couldn’t get enough of it. I was drawn in from the very first page and barely looked up to draw breath until I reached the satisfying end. I literally devoured this excellent read in one sitting, never wanting it to end and that’s always the sign of an exceptionally good book. You just know that Jo was enjoying writing this book as much as I enjoyed reading it and there wasn’t one fault I could find with it.
Lucia has a strong connection to Italy as her parents were born there and her beloved Nonno and Nonna still live there running a pizzeria. Lucia herself divides her time between London and Cardiff working as a business lawyer. The hours are endless and she devotes 100% always to a job she does like but she is always striving for more. She is desperate to win the promotion that has become available in her office and has dedicated all her waking hours working towards this. But now the time has come for her annual holiday to Italy. It’s time to switch off. The outcome of the promotion is out of her hands, she has done all she can and needs to relax and unwind. Arriving in the Italian town where her grandparents reside, old familiar memories of summers gone by coming flooding back and she instantly relaxes and pushes work to the back of her mind. A wave of contentment washes over her but will this feeling last when she hears some unexpected news?
As always Jo Thomas excels when it comes to creating such vivid settings that literally walk off the page to meet you. You are sitting at home looking out at dark grey skies but yet reading this story you feel like you are in Italy with Lucia. It’s so calming and relaxing and not to mention the tantalising descriptions of food, ingredients and cooking that have you growing hungrier with every turn of the page. Pizza is the food of choice in this book and it amazed me how so much thought and effort went into all the various pizzas that were made. They certainly weren’t your average run of the mill pizza picked up in the frozen food aisle of your local supermarket. The tradition and craft of pizza making are brought to life and the love Lucia has for her Nonno and his talent as a master pizza maker can not be under appreciated. In fact, the love she has for her grandparents in general just radiates from the pages and provides a real feel good feeling within the book and forms the basis of the overall plot.
Lucia’s world is rocked when her Nonno announces that he is to retire and the restaurant that has meant so much to their family will have to be sold. Nonno had been ill but is recovering and feels now is the time to pass the legacy on. Who is there to take it over? Lucia can’t believe this is happening. She came for her holiday expecting the usual, comforting routines to still be in place instead she finds her world turned upside down. But maybe this is exactly what Lucia needed as it forces her to question where her life is actually going? Does she want to be working in a high powered office job always striving to achieve more, to get the next promotion to earn more money? Only to spend it on what seeing as the hours she works would only grow longer. What motivates Lucia even more to try and save the pizzeria and continue the craft that holds a special place in her family is when she discovers just who has their eye on taking over the business.
I thought it was just sheer genius to introduce the character of Giacomo, who turns out to be Lucia’s husband. That certainly surprised me. The reasons for their estrangement become clear pretty fast and soon they were pitted against each other in a deal which was struck. It sees the pair taking over half of the restaurant for a trial period. The end of which will see one of them taking over the restaurant permanently. It was just brilliant that Giacomo wasn’t some random man brought in. The fact that Lucia had a previous and existing connection to him made the tension between the pair palpable and Lucia was desperate to win. Her stance was made even more challenging when it has to be kept secret that she is running half of the restaurant. Women pizzaido’s, master pizza makers, were frowned upon in Italian society. If customers knew a woman was making the pizzas served up to them they would abandon the restaurant in their droves.
Lucia was up against it so much as she really feels Giacomo isn’t the right person to takeover the business. I think her history with him, and how she feels about the way she was treated, played a big part in the drive she had to try and win the competition and also the fact she felt she owed it to her Nonno. I loved how the competition unfolded as so many obstacles were paced in her way. I did guess who was behind certain things but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story and to be honest the way the story was written you just didn’t have a clue as to what the eventual outcome would be. I was so absorbed in the storyline which had the perfect pace, a brilliantly developed plot, a stunning setting and a whole wide range of characters that had me rapidly turning the pages. I just didn’t want to reach it and at one point I didn’t want either of them to win for that meant the end had been reached all too soon for my liking.
The various people that helped Lucia had their own interesting storylines. I won’t delve into them but suffice to say I enjoyed seeing storylines of this nature in this type of book and they were dealt with sensitivity and tact and the sense of humour which always shines through from Jo’s books. Serious issues blend perfectly with more lighter moments and they see Lucia truly questioning what she wants from her future. Should she return to London or is the restaurant her future? Life is too short not to do the thing you love or to follow your heart. Lucia continues on her quest as she feels she is doing it not only for her family but for all the Italian women who have been denied their chance to follow their dreams. How will it all turn out? Will she find happiness? Who is the winner? You’ll have to pick up a copy of this engaging, sparkling and exciting book to find out.
Five star reads are few and far between for me as I can be very picky and judgemental in what achieves that rating but I have no hesitation in giving Chasing the Italian Dream a big fat five stars. I highly recommend this book and urge you to grab a copy as soon as possible. If you have never read anything by this talented author before than make sure you do. You really won’t regret it and what better book to start with than a stunning read set in Italy, featuring mouth-watering pizza and a brilliant storyline.
Thanks for the blog tour support Emma and Sharon x
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