Sophie has found herself back in her home town of Sheffield after travelling the world for the past few years, avoiding her past, never settling anywhere for very long. Teaching Italian to beginners was always going to be just a stop gap before her next adventure abroad - but sometimes things just don't go to plan.
Catherine, the wife of a well-known but not particularly ethical GP discovers that she 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…
And Anna, journalist and girlfriend to pete only has one mystery in her life; 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.
Expecting the book to be set in Italy, a location I have never really read about, I was slightly disappointed to find that it was set in Sheffield, but being a character based story, this didn't bother me as much as it could have.
Being told from 3 perspectives, you get to see the day to day lives of 3 Italian class members and how they all ended up where they were. I really enjoyed the character Catherine, a character who at the start of the book is left with no husband and distant children, but by the end has stuck up for herself and the ones she loves, something she would have never done at the start of the book. I really enjoyed watching her character development.
There were also many side characters that were incredibly likable. Geraldine and Roy are an old married couple and members of the class that are both wonderfully written. They bring a slight humour to the italian class and I really enjoyed hearing their story.
Lucy Diamond has a gift for creating characters that the reader really can relate to and enjoy. The eclectic range of people are so realistic that you find yourself becoming really attached to them and rooting for them the entire way. The story is incredibly fast paced, with each character having their own starring role and side story that the rest of the group isn't particularly aware of.
There are serious issues dealt with during the book and the author deals with these effortlessly. From the downtrodden wife, to NHS corruption and newspaper politics, there really is something for everyone contained in this story. Once again, Lucy Diamond has delivered an incredibly good book. It deals with Italy and its culture, Sheffield and its people, food from across the world, recipes, and love in the most unexpected places ... this is the perfect combination and will delight anybody.
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