It was a trip they were supposed to take together to Positano. They had talked about going for years and, finally, Katy surprised her mother with airline tickets. But, Carol got sick and died before trip could come to fruition. Devastated by the loss of the most important person in her world, Katy decides to make the trip anyway. Carol's time in Positano was special and Katy wanted to walk in her shoes. Shortly after arriving in Positano, Katy meets Carol as a 30-year-old. Now, Katy will experience the same trip while walking with Carol. How could this happen?
As the story progresses, a far more surprising and complicated plot arises. Not knowing how or why, Katy is given the rare gift of being with the woman she adored one last time, no matter the outcome. As she was during her whole life, she is enamored with this version of Carol until she discovers a shocking secret.
This story is multi-layered. It is an in-depth examination of an all-consuming relationship between a mother and her daughter. The author deftly brings a dead woman back to life which is no small feat. The stunning setting of the Amalfi Coast is so richly detailed as are the descriptions of the food that readers become immersed in the place and time.
I am so impressed with the author's narrative style. Even though the story is touched by grief and pain, it is also a tale about love, hope and finding a way to move forward. I could not put this book down. Highly recommended.
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.