From Publishers Weekly
A gaggle of lost, loopy expatriates cluster in Verona, Italy, the setting of this funny, bittersweet novel by an English writer ( Loving Roger , Tongues of Flame ) who himself lives in Verona. Julia Delaforce flees London partly to escape a 12-year affair with a married man, partly to expunge her guilt over an abortion. When she allows Sandro, a lazy Canadian Don Juan, to move into the flat she shares with Flossy, a militant feminist, it's obvious trouble lies ahead. Told mostly in letters full of gossipy backbiting, the novel exudes a sunny Italian lightheartedness that belies its serious intent. Cluttered with characters like Professoressa Bertelli, a paranoid academic, and Alan Bexley, an insufferable, high-minded writer, the story deepensand darkenswith Julia's sudden leap into maturity after her mother's stroke. Julia learns just in time that a life unlived exacts a terrible vengeance, a lesson lost on the self-seekers around her. The constantly shifting viewpoints multiply the smart comic touches.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In Verona, Italy, where she teaches English, 33-year-old British expatriate Julia Delaforce befriends a circle of endearingly neurotic companions who all live in perpetual crisis. She is a rock of stability compared with Sandro, infamous for his indiscriminate sexual conquests; Alan, a compulsive, aspiring novelist; and Flossy, his tough, man-hating, feminist sister. Julia maintains sanity while revealing her true feelings through an exchange of letters with her best friend, Diana, and her infantile but amusing brother, Michael. Once again, Parks ( Tongues of Flame , LJ 2/15/87, and Loving Roger , LJ 10/15/87) has created a hi larious, touching, and brilliantly perceptive study of the delicate, elusive subtleties of human relationships.Ronald L. Coombs, SUNY Health Science Ctr. Lib., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
