One Night In Italy by Lucy Diamond

If journalist Anna had to write up the story of her own life, it wouldn’t make for a great headline: Dull Journo Has Dull Boyfriend! The only mystery in Anna’s life is that she’s never known who her dad is but with her mum refusing to tell her more she’s at a dead end. When she accidentally comes across a clue that her father is Italian, it opens up a burning curiosity in Anna. Soon she’s cooking Italian food, signing up for an Italian class and even considering dusting off her passport to go and find her dad in person… 
Sophie is serving gelato to tourists in Italy when she gets the call that her father has had a serious heart attack. In a rush, she grabs her well-worn backpack and heads back to the one place she’s been avoiding for so long – home. Living with her mum again while her dad recuperates, and taking a job teaching Italian to make ends meet, Sophie has to face up to the secrets she’s kept buried in the past. 
Catherine has no idea what the future holds. Her children have left for university, her husband has left her for another woman and her bank account is left empty after dedicating her life to raising her family. She needs a job and an identity all of a sudden. At an Italian evening class she makes a start in finding new friends Anna and Sophie. And she’s going to need good friends when she discovers her husband’s lies run even deeper than his infidelity… As Anna embarks on the trip to Italy that could answer all of her questions, will the truth live up to her dreams?

I have been looking forward to reading Lucy Diamonds new book One Night In Italy, I love the authors books and I also have a great interest in anything Italian be it the language of love the delicious food and the stunning sights so I couldn’t wait to begin.

Anna has never known anything about her father until now when she is visiting her nan and she lets slip that her dad is called Gino the Italian, with not much to go on Anna is determined to find her dad and on her search for him she begins to do all she can to embrace her inner Italian side she never knew she had.

Catherine’s world is crashing down around her as her two children are off to uni and on the same day her husband leaves her. Suddenly she finds she has time on her hands and so she decides to enrol on an Italian language course.

Sophie has been living in Italy for the last 2 years but after her dad falls ill she has to return home. Back in Sheffield she is desperate for work and when an opportunity to teach Italian for 10 weeks came up she jumped at the chance.

The three ladies are joined at the language class and along with the rest of the class they all soon become great friends and help each other with their problems.

What a great read this was, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all I had assumed that the book would be set in Italy but actually it is set in Sheffield but yet the storyline wasn’t short of an Italian theme. It took me a while to distinguish between the three main characters but once I got used to who was who I soon became swept away in the storyline. All of the three women have completely different personalities and problems so they all bring something to the book and because the story is told from each of their points of views we really feel like we can connect to each of the characters. It is unusual for me but I didn’t actually have a favourite I loved all three of the ladies.

Although the book had a light feel to it, it did cover some serious issues too which gave the book more depth and also gave the book a more realistic feel to it. I have never attempted any Italian but reading this book watching the characters learning the language of love and also with each chapter title is written in Italian ( with an English translation) it did spark my interest and I still remember some of the phrases now so as well as enjoying this book it has educated me to!

This author always manages to create a busy book with lots of storylines going on but she also manages to weave them together beautifully and this book is no exception.  The ending to this fabulous book is tied up perfectly to so we are not left on a cliff hanger or with questions still in our heads waiting to be answered.

I really enjoyed this book, although not the holiday read I was expecting it was still an enjoyable read that I was actually quite disappointed to finish it!

Kindle                   Paperback