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There are currently 33 member reviews
for The Little Italian Hotel
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Laurie W. (Sunnyvale, CA)
A Light & Uplifting Read
I requested this book because it takes place in Italy, hoping to read about familiar places I have visited. While there were brief visits to these popular places, most of the story takes place in a small town. A sub-plot follows two old friends who own hotels - one small and traditional, one large and modern - and I enjoyed watching them maintain their friendship while disagreeing completely about how a hotel should be run.
The quirky characters kept me entertained, especially Edna, the spunky older woman. The premise (Ginny inviting 4 strangers to a hotel in Italy to heal their heartaches) is creative. The plot is mostly predictable but held enough surprises to keep my interest. Overall, a light and uplifting read.
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Betty B. (Irving, TX)
Good Book to Take On Vacation
This is a light hearted book that you can read on the beach or during your flights this summer. Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio advice expert, invites four of her listeners to join her on an Italian three week vacation. She believes she will "heal" her guests, but she finds she may be the one who needs healing. This book is a little light for my book club, but it's probably just right for a summer beach read. And we all would love to find our own Little Italian Hotel.
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DeAnn A. (Denver, CO)
Pack your bags!
This novel was a fun armchair travel adventure to Italy with a realistic view of relationship dynamics. I enjoyed meeting these characters and this author is a winner for me.
Ginny Splinter thinks she has a great marriage, and she frequently gives advice through her radio talk show. It comes as a shock to her that her husband of thirty years wants a divorce rather than a wonderful anniversary trip to Italy together. Rather than waste the trip, she offers to take some of her lonely listeners to Italy.
As Ginny and her new friends work to heal their heartache, I was swept up in the allure of Italy and it seemed like anything was possible.
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Janice A. (Colfax, WI)
Good Summer Read
Phaedra Patrick wrote an interesting and fresh vacation read. This novel contains the prerequisite themes, such as relationships ending and beginning, a summer vacation, and a lack of communication between characters. What The Little Hotel in Italy adds is the mix of strangers of different ages, genders, backgrounds, and heartaches. The discovery of each character's heartache allows the characters to develop empathy, friendship, and a beginning of healing. I recommend this book for a quick and light summer read.
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Ruth O. (Downingtown, PA)
A Charming Beach Read
The Little Italian Hotel is a charming book very suitable for a beach read. The main character, Ginny, is a radio advice expert who comes to a crossroads in her own marriage. She solicits 4 listeners to accompany her on a trip to Italy, which was originally supposed to be a twenty-fifth anniversary trip with her husband. The title refers to the hotel in which they stayed. Each character has their own reason for going on this trip, and the novel explores their inner feelings as the group gets to know each other along with the hotel manager and his daughter. There is a fair amount of angst in the book, but each comes to terms with their future in different ways.
The reader slowly comes to know each person and their relationships, especially Ginny, as they navigate different futures than expected. This was a quick, enjoyable read, especially if one likes to explore interconnections between people.
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Rebecca H. (Bolton, CT)
The Little Italian Hotel
This gentle, heartfelt story is a delight to read. Themes of change, loss, grief, mortality, new beginnings, and moving on are woven throughout the novel. The eclectic, somewhat rag-tag group that congregates at the Hotel Splendido, near Venice, forges new connections while learning to let go of the past as the individual heartaches of its members are soothed by their fellowship with one another in the simple, old-fashioned setting. I love all the characters, from the crusty, elderly Edna to the young and innocent Loretta, and the relationships formed amongst the members of the party are developed so believably. The ending is somewhat ambiguous; the reader is left to guess what the future will hold for Ginny, Nico, and Adrian. I'm not sure how I feel about that--I found it a bit unsatisfying. It's difficult to say why without major spoilers, so I'll refrain, but I recommend the novel highly to readers who enjoy the novels of Maeve Binchy and Jenny Colgan.
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Julie M. (Coon Rapids, MN)
Hallmark Movie, Anyone?
Reminded me of a Hallmark movie and I don't mean that as a bad thing because who doesn't love a Hallmark movie night once in awhile? Sweet characters in a predictable story, but I enjoyed it immensely.
