The small group holiday is familiar territory for me – I’m something of a veteran – and this book captures the experience quite perfectly. The characters were immediately recognisable (yes, there’s always an Alan…), the friendships quickly formed, secrets shared, problems discussed and the different alliances that form. And there’s always the cheery and over-enthusiastic tour guide, and the brittle party girl to make life a little more difficult for everyone – although maybe with not quite to the degree of impact that Lia has on this group.

Fanny Blake has a really special touch with characterisation and every individual on this holiday is impeccably and perfectly drawn, their “real lives” emerging and revealed – and the fact that they’re beyond the first flush of youth makes such a refreshing and welcome change. Sandy herself is so very likeable – her sadness over the loss of her husband quickly followed by the death of her mother, her uncertainty about her new relationship, her work concerns, her worries about her family, all so very real and easy to identify with.

If you should be planning a trip to Rome, Naples and the Amalfi coast, this book could almost be used as a guide – the research is impeccable, the “must see” locations (and some of the “maybe don’t bother” ones) described in vivid detail. I particularly liked the focus on the food, and the book is full of the tastes and aromas any visitor to Italy will recognise – but summer visitors will also be familiar with the heat and crowds at every attraction, so well captured that I found myself reaching for my bottle of water.

I loved the mystery at the book’s centre – the letter, the search, the extracts from the mother’s journal that punctuate the text – and anticipation of the outcome keeps the pages turning while living through the twists and turns in the dynamics of the relationships within the group. There’s a lovely focus on fresh starts and moving on, and also some interesting themes around family relationships in their infinite complexity.

This book would be a perfect holiday read – but also a wonderful way of travelling and enjoying the Italian experience without ever having to leave your armchair. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A wonderful trip to Italy, full of mystery, friendship, family and love.

My first book that I have read by this author. I have never been to Italy but once I had finished the An Italian Summer I felt like I had.

There is a mystery to be solved …

We are taken to the vibrant capital cosmopolitan city of Italy – Rome where we read and experience first hand the rich history, the culture, the art and the beautiful architecture along with all the wonderful people in the tour group and the locals too.

Be prepared to be transported to one of Europe’s largest and oldest cities! We travel to Naples and discover the ruins of Pompeii, historic castles, pizza, pizza and more pizza! You feel like you are actually there, wandering the ramshackle alleyways , visiting the sites, taking in the culture, eating and drinking and mixing with the locals!

Through friendship and love we learn so much about the country and the characters are given so much depth – we end up seeing so much of them, they are like our friends! I would love a sequel to read what happened next!

A very informative book which came alive!

A really lovely book, just perfect for summer. Delicious food, travel and romance, just what was needed for some sunny escapism.

An enjoyable summer read. Definitely not a chic flick read but light hearted and fun to read while instantly wanting the reader to book the next flight to Italy! Sometimes it took a little while to get through a page or so but then almost instantly you whisked away back to the heat and beautiful italy!

A great little holiday read. Perfect for lazy days in the sun and a nice cold glass of your favourite tipple.

When Mary's mum dies she leaves a letter to someone in Naples. She feels dutybound to try and deliver the letter and solve the mystery. She books onto a sightseeing tour of Rome and Naples, which brought back many memories of my daughters trip last year. I had heard all about the sights and smells and have seen the photos This book brought it all to life for me.
We get to meet everyone on the tour and the reasons they chose this holiday. There are the usual strains that can pepper a holiday and the dynamics of a group exploring..
You really could imagine sitting down at the cafes and trying to block out some of the 'louder' characters whilst enjoying the wonderful atmosphere around you, enjoying the local food and resting your feet after walking miles . I really felt like I was on the tour along with them all.

I hadn’t read any novels previously by Fanny Blake, but having read this one, will be looking for more. Her pedigree is impressive, and her previous experience shows through in this polished work. She deftly tackles relationships and issues that do affect women ‘of a certain age’ with both sensitivity and insight. Everything is certainly not perfect in her characters’ world.
The device of using a tour group to travel round Italy and a letter with a secret works well and is intriguing. I have spent a lot of time in Italy, and felt that the cities were described accurately, and made me want to return.
This is a great summer beach read, but that doesn’t do it full justice for its depth of tackling real concerns. Whether I could have waited as long as Sandy to have sorted some things out is a different matter- but it is a story after all!

Thank you Orion Publishing Group & NetGalley for my ARC

An Italian Summer by Fanny Blake opens with a very intriguing line that set the tone for this book. As Sandy watches over her mother Miriam in her final days and hours, she makes a startling discovery – a letter addressed to an Anna Vigileri in Naples is in her mother's desk drawer waiting to be posted. Sandy cannot ask all the questions that flit through her mind upon seeing this letter as her mother is too weak. Apart from that, the relationship between the pair has always been strained and they never shared an extremely close mother daughter bond.

Miriam had always pushed Sandy away, always clamming up and never revealing anything about her family or her past. Some of Miriam's last words were – find her. Sandy interprets that her mother wanted her to find the Anna as mentioned in the letter. In accepting this quest of sorts little does Sandy realise that she will be taken on an experience which will see her face her own fears, uncertainties and difficulties. For she too has struggled in life and she knows deep down that now is the time to do something that will test her that will help her begin to move on from the death of her husband Matthew unexpectedly two years ago.

Since Matthew's death Sandy has felt adrift and unsure of what direction her life will now take. She loves her job as a teacher and is extremely hopeful that she will win promotion to year head but there is stiff competition. Pushing her professional worries aside Sandy takes the plunge and books a two week trip to Italy, a guided tour of Rome and Naples. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone she takes the letter with her in the hopes of finding the Anna of the letter still alive. Initially I thought the book would focus solely on a search for Anna. Then as we begin the holiday in Italy it became apparent that the tour would become the dominant focus with the finding of Anna taking more of a back seat until towards the end. I soon quickly found that I enjoyed the way the story was written as I have read so many books where people look to the past to uncover a secret or a truth that I needed something fresh and exciting. I think Fanny Blake achieved the right balance between explorations of the relationships and interactions of the couples on the tour contrasted with Sandy's own personal journey. The story was very character driven and was all the better for it.

I've never been to Italy but thanks to such gloriously descriptive writing I feel I was there every step of the way with the group. The stifling heat as they walked around the ancient site of Pompeii, the magical Trevi fountain where you make your wish, the over crowded corridors of the Vatican, the beauty of the Borghese Gardens, the spectacular sight of the Colosseum and so many more. It could have turned into listing off the various sites but instead it felt as if I was also on the holiday as a member of the group and in between the sights as shown by tour guide Gilly I got an insight into the inner workings of the characters as all are not as they seem. They may want you to think this is just another holiday for them and that everything is a bed of roses, but as the days pass by it becomes apparent that there are underlying tensions that cannot be masked when you are in such close proximity to people. Two weeks may feel like such a short time but by the end of it everyone will have changed. Lives will have been turned upside down but will it be for the good or will it be to the detriment of some more than others?

So what of the various people that Sandy meets? If it were me I would be hesitant about one of these tours but I enjoyed how she wholeheartedly embraced the experience and wanted to get as much out of it as possible. The weight of responsibility and the burdens are slowly start to lift from her shoulders even if to be honest what I would call my worst nightmare did happen for Sandy. A colleague from work, Lia, turns up on the first day of the tour and what's worse is that they are both in competition for the promotion in school. You could feel the tension oozing between the pair and I felt desperately sorry that Sandy was forced to endure her time away from the stresses of work with Lia. She was a horrible character with such snide remarks and such maddening actions and just like her fellow travellers if I heard once more about Elizabeth Gilbert I was going to scream. Lia seemed to have her finger in every pie and insinuated herself into situations where she was clearly not wanted. I felt she was manipulative and had one goal in mind and didn't really care how she achieved it. She was leaving this holiday with something and didn't care a jot for how she went about fulfilling her own personal quest. She saw people's weakness' and went for the jugular with no heed for the repercussions.

Alan was on the trip on his own but he didn't make much of an impact on me rather he was like the hanger on of the group that no one wants to take into their little unit. Similarly Benno and Alex although pleasant enough characters they were more on the periphery, happy in each other's company. Peter and Britt were an interesting couple but I would describe them as elusive as such, we had tantalising glimpses into their relationship but I wanted just that little bit more. For me apart from Sandy the most interesting relationship was that of Alice and Mark. I really loved how Sandy and Alice in spite of such a short space of time developed a friendship where they could confide in each other. They shared a bond like a kindred spirit. Alice in the beginning came across as a softie, a woman who gave up her career to stay at home looking after her stepchildren and then her own daughter with Mark. There was so much going on between Mark and herself but Alice was like a doormat, constantly being trampled on and putting up with it. She was really lost in her marriage and I wanted her to break free of the shackles that gripped her and return to the woman she once was. Mark treated her with disdain and I felt he deserved everything he got coming to him. Alice's journey in Italy was a joy to read as it was like the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis new and ready to approach life in an entirely new way.

As the group make their way from Rome to Naples, the story moved along at a lovely pace. I didn't feel things were either too drawn out or either rushed in order to move on to another aspect of the storyline. Bubbling away in the background amidst the exploration of the inner workings and dynamics of the group members was Sandy's wish to find Anna and see why Miriam was so instant she find her. I thought the use of Miriam's journal detailing her own visit to Italy was an excellent way of bridging the gap between the past and present. It also helped make Sandy's own experiences more real and authentic and it in some way elevated the distance she had felt between herself and her mother. I didn't guess the overall ending with regards to this aspect of the storyline and I was glad as it would have detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

Burdens, secrets, seeking acceptance and forgiveness, and letting go of the past to look to the future, all feature here and some characters more than others become empowered. It was more than just a tour of some of the most beautiful sights in the world, it was people finding their true-selves again and embracing what the future has to offer but a lot of ups and downs and revelations needed to occur before this process could ever hope to begin. An Italian Summer is the perfect summer read and most certainly my favourite book that I have read by Fanny Blake.

When Sandy’s mother dies, she leaves her daughter a letter addressed to Anna in Naples, asking Sandy to find her. Sandy wants to fulfil her mother’s last wish and sets off on a group – holiday in Italy. She doesn’t know who’s going to be in her group but never in her life does she expect with this particular guest…Travelling in Rome and Naples, she makes friends and enemies with her fellow travellers. Through her mother’s journal we get to know Sandy’s mother story which is really captivating. Will Sandy be able to find Anna? And if so, is it going to open a Pandora Box…?

In this book the author takes us on a journey to Rome and Naples. It is crystal clear that she has done her research – the descriptions of the places, listed buildings, relics, bars and piazzas are so incredibly detailed that it wouldn’t be impossible to write about them in such way without seeing them with your own eyes. While I truly appreciated that Fanny Blake wanted to bring the beauty of the places to us, I must admit that I started to skim reading through the descriptions as they were simply too long and I just longed to eventually get to the point, to have the plot and the main story back. Because the idea of this story was intriguing, it’s the development that was a problem – at least, my problem.

There were also many characters introduced to us in this book, and while I didn’t have problems with sorting them, with immediately seeing who belongs to whom, I spent most of the reading time wondering if they’re really so significant to the plot. However, what was really great to observe, was the brilliantly captured group dynamics, the interactions between adult people, the way they were coping. It was just like in real life, where a group of people meet the secrets, lies and small plays are pre – programmed, and the author has really an eye for such things. It was sharp observed and rang a bell, was true to life and realistic and I really enjoyed this part of the story. Please don’t get me wrong, it was lovely to learn about their experiences, to see Italy through their so very different eyes, but I only wanted to read more about the main idea. However, Fanny Blake can for sure create some truly interesting and complex characters, they all had their problems, they all had some skeletons in the cupboards and they were all truly well developed. They were not all likeable, oh no, just like it is with a group of people, and while Sandy could have had more backbone for my liking, she was a great leading character. She was strong and independent and life experienced. Some of the others I mostly wanted to slap, to be honest, or to bang their heads together, their actions were sometimes so childish but again – this is the way people behave and hats off to Fanny Blake for being able to bring her observations so easily and effortlessly to the pages.

I was missing some more twists and turns – I mean, there were many of them but there was a space for two or three really big ones, such that you didn’t see coming. It took so much time to reach the conclusion and, to be honest, I guessed the outcome, so some bumps on the way would be a great idea.

“An Italian Summer” was full of secrets, lies and rivalry novel, filled with sunshine and lovely Italian food and captivating storytelling. It was a warm story, bringing friendship and family to us. It was complex and clever and the mystery was truly interesting and I only wanted to turn the pages to see how it’s going to end – all of the subplots. It’s a great summer read, even if you’re not travelling to Italy, though with all the descriptions it’ll be for sure a bonus! Recommended!

Sandy is a middle-aged teacher, widowed a few years ago. Her mother dies and leaves a letter written to a lady in Italy many years ago but not posted, so Sandy decides to go over there and search for her. Her mother hadn’t managed to tell her anything about the lady, so she knows nothing about the story behind the letter.

Sandy books her holiday with a small group of travellers, hoping to meet new people, but discovers that another teacher from her school is on the same trip – and they’re battling it out for the post of Deputy Headteacher back at home!

The story got me hooked in the first few pages and I didn’t want to put it down. Fanny’s descriptions of the various places are fabulous, and you really feel as though you’re there with the characters.

A gorgeous summer read that I’d highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

As always, another absorbing story by Fanny Blake. This one takes us to Rome, The Amalfi Coast and Naples.

Sandy, on holiday in Italy has brought her mother's journal with her written when she was a young girl visiting Italy. Sandy thought that maybe through the journal she would get to know her mother better and find a reason why she was so distant. She also hopes to find some clues as to who the mysterious Anna is as her mother's last words were to find her and deliver a letter.

Sandy is on a sightseeing trip and is soon to be joined by the other guests including one who has the potential to spoil her holiday completely. I enjoyed hearing about the lives of the other guests and why they had came on the holiday. Some were nice and some were real pains,the type of people you would hate to get stuck with on holiday.

We hear through the journal the story of Sandy's mother and her life when she came to Italy as a young girl. Alongside this is the search for Anna and the people who help Sandy along the way.

The author's descriptions of the old streets,the cafes,the food,the ice cream all made me feel as if I was a few steps behind Sandy in her search.

I began to care for the characters and turned the pages quicker to find out what was happening next.

I loved the ending!

It's so good to read a book where the main character is a woman in her fifties and not someone's crochety old grandma.
This will be published on my blog,Amazon and Goodreads on 26 th July

This is the first book I have read by this author and it was enjoyable and entertaining.

When Sandy’s mother dies, she leaves a letter addressed to an unknown woman living in Naples, Sandy wants to find the mystery woman and deliver the letter, so she takes herself on a tour of Rome and Naples in the hope of identifying who the woman is. As the tour progresses through Rome she makes friends with her fellow travellers who all have different reasons for being in Italy. As they make their way into Naples, will Sandy discover the recipient of the letter?

A good story from start to finish set in an idyllic location which is the perfect summer read.

A nice summer read, though too long. Took a long time to reach a conclusion and I guessed the answer correctly before it got there. Also there are one or two characters in this who are really unlikeable and you wonder why anyone puts up with them.

Thank you Orion and Netgalley for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fabulous story of A holiday with a mission around beautiful Rome & Naples and the Amafi coast in Italy. The likeable & realistic characters in this story jump out at you and you won't want to leave them and the relationships that unfurl during this two week small sightseeing trip.

I’ve never been on a group holiday but if this book is anything to go by, I might just try it! There’s some weird and wonderful characters on there, lots of chats and conversations and lots of great places and people watching to do.

The story from start to finish is warm and inviting. Women over 50 don’t get to appear much in good stories it seems and Fanny, as in her other books, always writes about the friendships, lives and loves of group dynamics which is really interesting and refreshing.

There’s a great mystery to this novel and a real journey in more ways than one. The women go on a fantastic tour of Rome and Naples which was nicely woven into the narrative. I was glad to see the ice cream shops were real! Now THAT is good author research!

From the Vatican to the market squares and Pompeii to underground tunnels, this book contains a really good idea for a travel guide so you can use it for that too. Follow the women around and read a snippet at each spot. It never interferes with the flow of the story but adds to it!

A really fun and sunny book to read – perfect for the summer. Scene setting is excellent and the women I met here will stay with me for some time to come!

So each to get completely immersed in the story - and find your tummy is rumbling from the glorious descriptions of the food. I really enjoyed this - my favourite of Fanny's books to date. Looking forward to the next one

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Nice summer read whilst on the beach (Italy) with a nice cold drink.

4.5 Stars

What better way to spend a plane ride to Cyprus, than with Fanny Blake's newest book, and a virtual trip to Italy, Rome and Naples to be precise.

I enjoyed spending time with everyone on this group tour around two of Italy's top cities and tourist destinations and really thought the characters experiences got a feel for where they were, the food, culture, and everything Italian.

What also interested me were the group dynamics, and the different reasons for being on the trip.

Sandy is at the heart of this story and she has a mystery to solve while in Naples, and we also get snippets of journals from a similar trip her mum made in the 50's.

Was interesting to see some parallels, and also how Sandy was coping with a difficult few years.

Between rivalries, secrets, sunshine, some fabulous storytelling, and look at Italy, this was an absorbing book which kept me very entertained from start to finish of my 4+ hour flight!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

After the first third of the book I felt like I was wading through treacle. Only finished it cos I hate leaving books unfinished.