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That Summer in Ischia
 
 

That Summer in Ischia [Kindle Edition]

Penny Feeny
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: £7.71 What's this?
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Product Description

Review

Sun-drenched, dark and intriguing. I loved the way she painted Italy --Kate Long

Vivid and gripping - a most accomplished first novel --Barbara Trapido

A delightful holiday read --Daily Mail

Product Description

In the long hot summer of 1979, best friends Helena and Liddy travel to the beautiful island of Ischia to be au pairs to the children of two wealthy Italian families: the Verduccis and the Baldinis. From the opulent hillside villas and the sun-drenched beaches the girls plan their great adventure to find romance and excitement, whatever the cost, on the sleepy island. But when a little boy in their care goes missing the spell is broken and the girls find themselves under suspicion from the police. Under pressure, the cracks in their relationship are forced to the surface and one will betray the other, changing the course of both their lives forever.wenty-four years later, Liddy, walking her dog on an English beach, spies a woman strangely reminiscent of her estranged friend. Hoping for reconciliation, Liddy follows the figure home. But this isn't Helena; it's her twenty-three year old daughter, Allie, a daughter Liddy never knew about. As their friendship blossoms, new mysteries come to light, sending Allie on a startling quest to find out what really happened that summer in Ischia.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 699 KB
  • Print Length: 322 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1906994188
  • Publisher: Tindal Street Press (1 May 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B004WK2ZWA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,292 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Penny Feeny
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
119 of 130 people found the following review helpful
Hugely enjoyable 10 July 2011
By Bennett
Format:Paperback
Penny Feeny's 'That Summer in Ischia' is an absolutely super read.

With characters you really care about and an eloquent writing style, you are propelled through these pages, eager to discover each subtle twist and turn. The warm sands of Ischia create the perfect setting for a book that contains intrigue and tension, romance and regret, sadness and humour. I really did laugh and cry.

Atmosphere comes from England too, with Feeny's vivid descriptions of Liverpool's most majestic landmarks and Crosby's moody shoreline. The book's structure is well considered - with lucid shifts between decades and events. The plot is pacy and entertaining. And how refreshing that (well-written) sex scenes are not reserved for the female protagonists only in their youth!

Hugely enjoyable, beautifully written, highly recommended.
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55 of 61 people found the following review helpful
By Nicola F (Nic) TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The compelling sounding summary of this novel really spurred me on to buy this book- that and I adore books set in Italy. From the outset I found this novel to be a good, though not overly exciting read. Initially it was quite fast paced but then it seemed to disintegrate a little bit as it jumped twenty-odd years into the future and seemed full of too many loose ends and rather one dimensional characters for my liking.

Feeny's writing is beautiful and eloquent and I have no criticisms of that- her vivid descriptions of the Italian island of Ischia are wonderful and she is able to create believable settings and scenarios to draw the reader into the novel. The plot flows ably enough aswell and though the story flitted back and forth in places it was in no way confusing from that respect.

In terms of the characters themselves though, perhaps that's why I felt this book fell a bit short and was almost flat in places; I had an inherent dislike of the grown-up Liddy, I have to admit, which is possibly why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd expected to. She was such an interfering, pathetic busy-body and generally quite an unlikeable person that it made me cringe to read about her. Even from the start of the novel her actions towards Helena's predicament were not those of a "friend-" with friends like her, who needs enemies?! Though I didn't really warm to Helena very much either, at least she had a bit of gumption about her as the book progressed. I found Helena's daughter Allie to be the most well drawn character of all of them and she added a sense of youth and vibrancy to the story.

For me, what got to me most about the book was that there was no real mystery or suspense to anything and the book was actually a bit of an anticlimax- I genuinely expected a bit more than what I got, unfortunately. When Helena and Liddy were reunited there was no recriminations or anger, given events that had happened. Surely you would want to confront someone who had hurt you so badly? It just wasn't believable. Some of the characters also seemed like they didn't really have much of a purpose- like Helena's boyfriend Simon, who could have been missed out of the book entirely.

Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable read, though I would have liked to see certain bits of the plot tied together a little bit more than they were and certain aspects elaborated on a lot more. I think it's worth reading it just for the descriptions of Italy alone, though- but don't expect anything fantastic overall.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
A good read 24 July 2011
By Holls
Format:Paperback
Although I agree with many other reviewers about the lack of development of some characters and some threads of the plot, I found this book, overall, to be enjoyable and a bit of a page turner!

I enjoyed all of the setting description, having never visited Italy, the locations were made very appealing thanks to the detailed descriptions.

THis was a great bargain on the Kindle and well worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
BORING
I bought this book as it was on offer but got to say that on three different occasions i started this book and had to restart as i was confused by the constant jumping from past to... Read more
Published 14 days ago by jean
A quick read, very enjoyable
I whizzed through this book, I was captured by the tales of the two girls and although I bought this book because it was set in Italy the fact that it didn't remain there didn't... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Charlie&Molly
An Enjoyable Read
I found the book very readable & would be ideal for holiday reading, especially in Italy! It is quite a light read but ideal if you want an easy relaxing book with a good story. Read more
Published 28 days ago by AnnB
Very Enjoyable
I bought this just because it was a Kindle Daily Deal so it was only 99p but in fact I really enjoyed it. I could really recommend it.
Published 1 month ago by Carole
Beter than expected
I don't read a lot of fiction and thought this would just be a run of the mill work. But I wanted to read it as I have been to Ischia and loved it. I can also speak Italian. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Christine Hacklett
Very enjoyable Book
This is a very interesting book. Good descriptions of locations and characters. Easy reading. Will look out for other books by Penny Feeny.
Published 2 months ago by M. Hendry
A must read - Friends are forever
I've already put my reviews on this book. I read it and it hooked me right away. I love to read and this book gives an insight on friendship from childhood to adulthood and all the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kathryn May
That Summer in Ischia
An absorbing, exciting, great holiday read, That Summer in Ischia tells the story of two friends, Liddy and Helena, their eventful summer au-pairing in the Italian island of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Maria
That Summer in Ischia
When I started to read this book I thought it was going to be very light and with little food for thought. However as the plot developed it proved interesting and worth reading. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nanshirl
Y-A-W-N
As an avid reader, I found checking my Twitter account more alluring then picking this book back up and reading on. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Cheyenne
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Popular Highlights

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&quote;
insouciant. Liddy was still experimenting, hadnt yet found her signature fragrance. I didnt &quote;
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PROLOGUE: 2003 Every movement was familiar: the languid easy stride, &quote;
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Goethes Italian Journey, Norman Douglass South Wind, and Malcolm Lowrys Under the Volcano. &quote;
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