Helpful Score: 2
Light read; I always like a Siddons book for the beach.
Helpful Score: 2
A great book to read on the beach (which is where I read it).
Helpful Score: 2
Located in Tennessee and Italy, this is a novel of emotions, fear and love. A great Anne Rivers Siddons novel. If you haven't discovered her, try this one.
Helpful Score: 2
Anne Rivers Siddons writes deeply into relationships--primarily the one between Catherine Gaillard (thrust into Italy after a phobia prevents her from leaving her mountain-top home in Tennessee for years)and husband Joe, and the nature of their love. Lovely picture of Tuscany along the way.
Helpful Score: 2
Awesome story telling!
Helpful Score: 1
Not really my type of book. Thought I would enjoy it more but I couldn't get into it.
Helpful Score: 1
I always enjoy her books, and this one is no exception.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent beach / pool book!
Helpful Score: 1
One single event changed the life of Catherine Gaillard when she was a child makes her unable to leave the protected mountaintop village in Tennesee for the next thirty years. Siddon's fans will like this one.
Good story.
A single traumatic event from her childhood has irrevocably marked Catherine Gaillard's adulthood, striking her with an almost unconquerable fear of leaving her cloistered mountaintop home in Tennessee for thirty years. But now, in an effort to shake her fears and put the incident behind her, Catherine is embarking on a life-changing vacation to Italy with her husband Joe. As they make their way across the beautiful countryside of Tuscany with two other couples, Cat and Joe soon find themselves being pulled in separate directions, and the fabric of their marriage begins to unravel. And a journey that began as a carefree tour crosses unexpected boundaries, carrying them into the heart of their relationship, becoming the ultimate test of their love.
I truly did enjoy this book. It was a little slow to get into at first but I give it an A+!
I truly did enjoy this book. It was a little slow to get into at first but I give it an A+!
I enjoyed the characters and wished I had been to Italy!
Slow reading but I finally got into it and enjoyed it. Vivid descriptions of Italy and made me want to visit.
This is a good book that appeals to the heart of most women.
Very good book-recommended!
Cat Gaillard's life was irrevocably marred at age five when a truck plowed into her hedonistic parents, who were making love on a bridge. Raised in a small, southern hill town at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, Cat found safety within the rarified confines of its resident college and refused ever after to leave. Her agoraphobia entrances her husband Joe, a pedantic dean of English who revels in being Cat's strength and feels threatened when therapy frees her somewhat for a holiday abroad; they will roam across Italy as the unlikely companions of Joe's protege Colin and his new bride Maria. Other fellow travelers include Yolanda, a hilariously bitchy, oversexed Martha Stewart knockoff; Sam, a bluff, sweat-scented painter mesmerized by Cat; and his Machiavellian wife Ada, who will do anything to jumpstart Sam's creative motor. As a gritty, hot wind blows the group through Venice and into Tuscany, the hypocrisies cementing Cat's marriage are exposed. Siddons artfully conjures a violently seductive, sensual world peopled by characters boiling with elemental emotions: fear, lust, aching love.
Really didn't impress me much. Was very metaphorical, I suppose. I like things spelled out. Started out good--her childhood, her marriage and family. Went downhill when they began travel to Italy.
I love all of Anne Rivers Siddons books.
Back Cover:
As a small child a single event irrevocably changed the life of Catherine Gaillard-and rendered her unable to leave her cloistered mountain top town in Tennessee for the next thirty years. Her devotion to her husband, Joe, and her desire to forever put this incident behind her propel Cat on a life changing voyage to Italy.
Making her way across the Tuscany countryside in the company of newly married friends and an exuberant painter and his enigmatic wife, Cat and Joe feel the fabric that holds their marriage together-so carefully woven together at home-begin to unravel. The once carefree trip turns into a journey to the very heart of their relationship..and the ultimate test of their love.
As a small child a single event irrevocably changed the life of Catherine Gaillard-and rendered her unable to leave her cloistered mountain top town in Tennessee for the next thirty years. Her devotion to her husband, Joe, and her desire to forever put this incident behind her propel Cat on a life changing voyage to Italy.
Making her way across the Tuscany countryside in the company of newly married friends and an exuberant painter and his enigmatic wife, Cat and Joe feel the fabric that holds their marriage together-so carefully woven together at home-begin to unravel. The once carefree trip turns into a journey to the very heart of their relationship..and the ultimate test of their love.
