Quite the page turner until you get to 96% and realise that with only 4% to go, unless there's going to be a spectacular twist, it's not going to end quite as you expect/hope.
Barber is a till-now-unread-by-me author, and I think I found her style and writing competence a lot more compelling than the actual story. The main protagonist, Rachel, is weak and a bit pathetic, the two other important characters are utterly ghastly: both rich and self-entitled, one a toxic bitch, the other just a user of people. It was hard to even like the victim of it all.
The sultry heat of the Tuscan countryside provides a beautiful backdrop, but it wasn't enough for me to get to The End with satisfaction. There are a lot of loose ends.
Will I read more of Barber? Very definitely, but just one little niggle: a quote from the Acknowledgements: "This book would be nowhere without my marvellous agent." Not quite right. Your book, dear author, would be nowhere without readers. But the reader doesn't get a mention. Not one.
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