When a meeting with a first love uncovers hidden secrets.

Synopsis

Should first love be left in the past, or is first love, forever love…

Sisters Annie and Jess are used to their mother Julia being spontaneous. But when Julia announces she’s flying off to Rome to meet her first love Patrick, whom she hasn’t seen for fifty years, it’s an adventure too far. So, her daughters decide the only way to keep Julia safe, is to go too – without actually telling their mother she has chaperones!

Julia and Patrick’s love story was everything – epic, once-in-a-lifetime, with a tragic ending and life-long consequences.  First love is hard to forget, but sometimes, just sometimes, life delivers a chance to rewrite your story. 

As the eternal city of Rome works its magic, old secrets, old friends and old loves become new possibilities and new dreams. And when the four travellers return home, nothing will ever be the same again.

Join Helen McGinn for a timeless, joyous, unforgettable journey through love, family, and long-forgotten dreams.  A novel to hold to your heart and treasure, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Cathy Kelly and JoJo Moyes

My review

Annie and Jess are used to their mother Julia and her being ‘spontaneous’. But when Julia decides to fly to Rome to meet her first love Patrick after fifty years, the sisters are not so sure of that decision. So without Julia knowing, Annie and Jess also fly over to Rome, to keep an eye on their mother. Little do they know that the love story of Julia and Patrick was a beautiful yet also a tragic one…
The journey to Rome is only the start of discovering the truth, because once back home everyone has to decide what the right course is.

I think that the author did a great job in dividing the story into two parts.
The first part is all about the trip to Rome and what is taking place there, while the second part is about what happens after the trip.

First of all, having been several times to Rome, I enjoyed being there in my imagination. “Thanks” to the current pandemic, going to places I love visiting time after time, I did not have my ‘shot’ of Italy, but thankfully with this book I could walk on the Roman streets again!

I have to be honest, when I read Julia her plan, I totally understood how Annie and Jess were feeling. Who would ever agree to meet a man after fifty years? And not only that, but also agreeing on meeting him in another country! Yet this decision makes it obvious just how spontaneous Julia is.

Annie and Jess are not very alike, their characters couldn’t be more different, yet they are like real sisters: they bicker a lot, but they obviously love each other. And also both of them love their mother very much and would do everything to prevent Julia to make a mistake.

This is not just a story about seeing your first love again, but also about a chance to redemption. And the second part of this book is all about it.
Even if sometimes I found things going too smoothly without many hiccups, the second part was a bittersweet event.
Without giving too much away, it shows how one (forced) decision fifty years ago affected many people in the present.

I loved how each character faced the revelations on their own way, matching perfectly with how I imagined they would.
And I enjoyed reading how there were even more surprises in store for our main characters!

A real beautiful story, with many emotions both for the characters as the reader. Not something to be easily put away!