‘An honest look at the complexities of motherhood’– a review of ‘One Italian Summer’ by Rebecca Serle

At its core, the book revolves around the complexity of the bond shared between a mother and daughter.

Serle effectively describes what it means to have an all-consuming relationship being ripped away from you, by following a grieving woman, mourning the painful loss of her mother, Carol Silver. As a means of coping, the 30-year-old main character Katy Silver decides to embark on an adventure that was meant to have been a mother-daughter trip to Positano, Italy. A place incredibly special for Carol, who used to live there and tell her daughter romanticised stories of the life she used to have. The author portrays the city as “a special Mecca that she (Carol) played in right before she became a woman and a wife and then a mother.” However, upon Katy’s arrival Serle decides to play with the dimensions of time and introduce a small nuance of fiction to the story. Through some unexplainable events, Katy runs into her mother, only that she has not risen from the dead, but reincarnated as her younger self. In a meeting that is described to be a coincidence, the two women, now the same age, run into each other and develop a deep friendship, with Katy being aware of the true complexity of the situation. As the main character describes, “I am watching her becoming, I think. Here she is, at the start”. Demonstrating how this version of Carol does not yet embody her wise and spirited mother, but instead merely a woman trying to figure out life with all its obstacles, just like Katy. And so, the protagonist embarks on an adventure of a lifetime, embracing her true self to the fullest and experiencing the Italian culture together with her mother. From hikes to night clubs and falling for a man who happens to stay at the same hotel as her, Katy starts to re-find purpose in her life whilst trying to obtain closure from her mother’s death.

Carol wanted to be more than “just” a mother, she had the desire to break free from the reduction to that one title, which leads her to make choices in her daughter’s early life, that Kathy has yet to reveal and understand when meeting her.

Whilst the book does include a hint of romance, in my opinion the character’s stance on romantic love is almost secondly ranked. The ups and downs of the protagonist’s marriage and exciting affair in another timeline are more a result of Katy’s self-discovery journey whilst trailing her mother’s footsteps, rather than the focus of the book. As stated, even the romantic relationship between her parents is described to not reach the level of gravity as the mother daughter bond, “I believe my love with my mother was truer, purer, than what she had with my father. If you’d have asked her, who do you belong to, the answer would have been Katy. ‘You are my everything’”, demonstrating how before death split them apart, the two women were each other’s life’s purpose. Carol is portrayed as having been full of life before she passed away, dressing in vibrant colours and maintaining a family filled with love. She would be the one Katy would call to spend weekends together, she would be the one to support her through her career and most importantly she was her home. Thus similarly, it makes sense that Katy’s own marriage is just as heavily impacted by the mother-daughter bond. This is best highlighted by a quote that especially sparked my interest when first reading the book. Serle writes, “when your mother is your soulmate, what does that make your husband?” This statement is somewhat absurd, making it almost humorous. How can your own husband, the one you are supposed to love the most, be so obviously ranked below your mother? Well for Katy and Carol, it would appear obvious.

One Italian Summer manages to capture the realisation that every one of us is confronted with when coming of age – our parents are at the end of the day are also just people experiencing life for the first time, with their own stories to tell, filled with committed mistakes and uncertainty. As the author beautifully brings it to the point, “Look how much life was lived before I ever even arrived. Look at who she was before she met me.” Because, although the two women develop a meaningful friendship – which in my opinion just proves how deep their bond is even when not being in a parent-child relationship. The past is not as picture perfect as it had appeared to Katy whilst growing up. With quite a plot twist at the end, Serle discusses the idea that abandonment and motherly love don’t necessarily have to be polar opposites, but rather stand in a highly complex relationship with each other. Carol wanted to be more than “just” a mother, she had the desire to break free from the reduction to that one title, which leads her to make choices in her daughter’s early life, that Katy has yet to understand when meeting her.

This book has touched me in ways I cannot describe and exceeded all my expectations. I read it in one sitting, shed tears and wished for my own miracle to meet my mother as a young woman at a time before me. Serle successfully develops her characters to a degree of profoundness, that as the reader one cannot help but resonate with each one of them. The interplay with different timelines allows for unanswered reflections of “what could have been”, making some situations painfully realistic. Such as, for instance, Katy’s numbness right after the death of her mother, or even her later realization that her grief will never simply go away but rather become easier to live with. Through this story, Serle aims to teach her readers to embrace people´s flaws and selfishness as part of what makes them human. I can only recommend it to anyone interested in reflecting upon the nature of parent-child relationships and the search for oneself after losing the centre of one’s universe. A must read.

4/5