An Italian Affair

Did not enjoy it, found it slow reading. have read many more exciing novels about Italy.

I am not a fan of romantic novels, but I really enjoyed reading this book. The perfect mix of flirtatious romance, exotic scenery and food, and an occasional outpour of tender emotions makes this book refreshingly enticing. The liberal sprinkling of Italian phrases is a charm rather than a distraction because the author skillfully makes sure that her readers understand the conversation.This is a first person narrative written in a second person style. It is a bit strange at first, but you get use to it real fast!This is the perfect book for the rainy weekend. Highly recommended.

Until I can really afford the pleasure to be a world traveller I shall live vicariously through the many author's lives whose memoirs have touched me so deeply and have even sustained my yearning to visit the extraordinary places they write about. Amongst these great authors is Laura Fraser. Her memoir, in which I have just finished, completely captivated me from the first page. It was not so much the love affair that captured my heart but rather her elaborate depiction of every city and every island that she and her lover visited together. It is not hard to feel as though you are there with them in the most enchanting places. I suggest to anyone that shares such a "joie de vive" to buy this book, sit down with a bottle of wine and emmerse yourself in the warmth and amazing beauty of it's pages! "Ricorda e non dimenticare, non `e mai sbagliato amare."(From "An Italian Affair")

My book group read this scrumptious book and had a dinner featuring the foods the author mentions--luscious tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and olive oil, pasta with capers and cherry tomatoes, arugula salad. It was one of hte most delicious reads of my life--and one of the best reads! I recommend it heartily, with a nice Italian Barolo.

This book is charming, from start to finish. It is billed as non-fiction. If it were fiction, something dramatic would have to happen. But as it is, this memoir of an angst-free international affair reads like a cross between an early Susan Cheever novel like "Looking for Work" and a Shirley Hazzard novel set in Italy, like "The Evening of the Holiday." The book is drenched in Mediterranean food and sunlight. The narrator, Laura, is a lovely woman, a big blonde American, perhaps just a tad too concerned with her weight. (How many more conversations can we women be subjected to about diets? It's boring and it holds us back!) There's a lot of sex in this book, yet Laura is never explicit, and frankly, I'd like to know more about her lover. I nearly didn't read this book because of the author's weird decision to employ the second person voice. Why did she do this? After a couple of pages I didn't notice it, the way you don't notice subtitles on a foreign film after a moment. Despite this, the writing is crisp, the organization is simple but enviable, and I highly recommend this book to any woman looking for a charming, diverting read.

I just finished reading An Italian Affair over the week-end. It's a beautiful description of both the author's coming to terms with her divorce and the exotic locations that form the backdrop for her visits with the professor. It takes the reader along as they learn from each other and as their relationship changes and evolves. I've recommended the book to a number of friends, including a few who have recently gone through their own break-ups and are struggling to make sense of it all. Part love story, part travel story (I want to see some of those places now!) and part self exploration - it's a perfect summer read.