A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay

When art restorer Emily goes to Atlanta, all of her dreams come true.  She falls quickly in love with a young and handsome Italian chef called Ben. Her work is praised, and even her sister Amy is able to pull herself together, and doesn't steal Ben's attention.  Emily has finally found true happiness with Ben.

However, things are not so easy when the loving couple go to Italy and live with Ben's big and complicated family.  Ben's father Lucio is dying and the sadness of this is worsened by the tensions and secrets within the home.  Although Lucio takes Emily under his wing, Ben's mother is cold to her, and Ben and Emily have their first fight when Emily tries to help his sister make a match with Alessandro...

This was a sensitive and moving book and a good description of a clash between cultures and a growing romance.  It was easy to imagine that one was in a warm Italian household and easy to empathise with Emily's difficulties.  I was a bit surprised that there was not much mention of the family's attitude towards Emily's being obviously Protestant and the differences between the denominations, however. Research was a bit lacking by Katherine Reay here. However, this didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. I also especially liked the literary allusions.

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.


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