When one door closes, an awesome vacation taverna opens…

Synopsis

Clover Harrington might be sixty-one, but she’s still bossing it in the corporate world and can still run rings around her younger colleagues. And then she is made redundant….

Devastated and now suddenly the wrong side of sixty Clover doesn’t know what to do with her life or her corporate wardrobe! What does she wear if not red lippy and a power suit?! Rather than offer her any support, her partner, Jack announces he’s off on a golfing weekend, leaving Clover completely adrift.

Desperate to get away from it all, Clover decides to visit her cousin Zoe at her small taverna in the gorgeous Italian Lakes. There she can rest and recuperate and plan the next stage of her life.

Until Clover’s eighty-year-old mother, Eleanor decides to turn up for the holiday too! Instead of gentle ambles around the lake, Eleanor seems more interested in late night poker and swigging Prosecco and Clover can’t quite believe her mum is having more fun than she is. But as the saying goes – if you can’t beat em, join em!

But is Clover brave enough to live La Dolce Vita?

My review

Even if being sixty – one, Clover Harrington expected her latest meeting to be one where she would get promoted. However, things turn out to be the opposite as she is being made redundant.
With her partner Jack having more focus on his imminent golfing weekend and not on giving her the much needed support, Clover decides to take matter in her own hands.
So with a wish to get away as far as possible, she decides to go visit her cousin Zoe, who owns a taverna in the Italian Lakes.
That will give Clover enough time and space to figure out where life will take her now. That peace is only abruptly disturbed with the arrival of her mother Eleanor…
Mother and daughter will learn the true meaning of living La Dolce Vita. But this was only planned to be a vacation, right? 

Now, you may know that whatever story is set in Italy, that I am going to read it. So obviously I had to add this book to my immense TBR pile!
And I must say, I truly enjoyed it, even if my world and Clover’s are miles apart. 

Because Clover is a real business woman, and she wont let her age of sixty – one hold her back. She is determined to get that promotion, as she for sure had worked very hard to get at this point.
So even if I am not a career – woman myself, or even a few decades younger than Clover, I could for sure understand not only her shock but also a bit the shame of missing out the promotion, but also being made redundant.
Why should she be punished for her age? While she has done so much for the business… 

And then there is the support from her loved ones. Or should I rather say the lack of it? Even before Jack had said just one word, I already disliked him…
He is a self-centred man, only thinking about his needs and completely lacking empathy. And even when Clover makes it clear that things are over (okay, perhaps not in the best way), he still acts like he can walk around in Clover’s house and do as he pleases. 

But also Eleanor, Clover’s mother, won’t win an award for most caring mother by her actions at the start of the story. I found it hard to understand why she cared more about appearances and not giving her daughter the support she needed… 

So I absolutely agreed with Clover getting away for a while. Yet I was also very curious to see how this woman would adapt in Italy, and especially in a taverna, where everyone is more laid back! And I must say, seeing Clover struggling, adapting and slowly even embracing the Italian way of living, was a real delight! 

Of course it was lovely to see how Clover starts to see that there is a different kind of living your life at the fullest. And I was happy to see how she also wanted to be of help, even if she was a guest at Zoe’s place. Obviously her help didn’t always go as planned, only adding more laughter for the readers! 😊 

When Eleonor appears again in the story, I was a bit afraid that the story would take a turn, taking away some of the lightness in it. Yet it was the total opposite!
I found Eleanor a real gem in Italy, and her using some Italian sayings was absolutely hilarious! 

There may be a love interest in this book, for more than just one character, but it doesn’t determine the story. Because it isn’t about finding love again, but it’s about finding life again…
This story shows us that perhaps when we think the worst has happened, it will turn out to be an opportunity to start afresh, to start something new, somewhere new.
And it doesn’t matter what age you have, it’s always the right time to take a dive into the unknown and have a place that makes you happy, surrounded by people that make you happy!