Five strangers are brought together on an Italian holiday in The Little Italian Hotel, a sweetly immersive novel brimming with the hope of new beginnings by Phaedra Patrick.
To celebrate 25-years of marriage, Ginny Splinter--a
49-year-old, problem-solving, British
radio talk show host--surprises her husband, Adrian, by planning an upscale
trip to Italy for just the two of them. But when she presents the gift, Adrian
announces that he doesn’t want to go on a vacation. He wants a divorce. Shaken
and jarred, heartsick Ginny decides, on a lark, to invite four loyal listeners,
at random, to accompany her on the trip instead. This is accomplished by her
swapping out the pricy luxury accommodations she’d planned for her and Adrian
in Vigornuovo, a small Italian village in Bologna, (10, 48) in exchange for
more modest lodgings for she and her guests. The five strangers--ranging in age
from 27 to 80--meet for the first time, where they all set off, touring Venice
and Florence. The sights of Italy may be wonders to behold, but the life
stories of the strangers--each on the cusp of change in his and her own
life--prove equally enriching amidst the journey.
Patrick (The Messy Lives of Book People) is a beautiful writer of
optimistic stories that probe the true meaning of life and the human quest to
find happiness and fulfillment. In The Little Italian Hotel, she once
again mines the bittersweet landscape of the human heart with great tenderness,
insight, and wisdom.
The Little
Italian Hotel by Phaedra
Patrick
Park Row
(Harlequin/Harper Collins), $18.99 original paperback, 9780778387121, 320
pages, Publishing Date: June 6, 2023
To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE
NOTE: This review
is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (June 6, 2023), link HERE