One Italian Summer

An extraordinary, beautiful, magical book - JILL MANSELL

The heartbreaking new novel from the author of the international bestseller In Five Years

When Katy's mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn't just Katy's mum 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, the mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer 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, healthy and sun-tanned... and thirty years old. Katy doesn't understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that somehow, impossibly, she has her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman who came before.

But can we ever truly know our parents? Soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Rebecca Serle's next great love story is here, and this time it's between a mother and daughter. With her signature 'heartbreaking and poignant' (Glamour) prose, Serle has crafted a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us.

Bestseller in the US: New York Times, March 2022.