The Italian Party
by Christina Lynch (Goodreads Author)
108416
Nancy Cunningham's review Sep 25, 2017 · edit
really liked it

THE ITALIAN PARTY is that rare contemporary novel that manages to entertain and stimulate thought at the same time. I was engaged in this book from the very beginning and it never let me down. It was able to charm me with its descriptions of the Italian countryside and its people, while also sending its message that America's role abroad is many shades of gray (as is our political behavior).

The young couple at the center of the novel started a relationship based upon mutual deceit and as their innocence disappears the complexity of sorting out their lives unfolds. The personas they created were initially built on pragmatism and personal necessity, but as they mature (in a rather short time!) they address their identities in a candid and thoughtful manner.

I tend to look at the 1950's (in all its post-war glory) as an innocent and somewhat glamorous time. American's were confident, the economy was growing, and we were reveling in our freedom and our future. Christina Lynch takes a young couple with those attributes and places them in a small Italian town that looks at them through a very different lens and the reader's challenge is to sort out the reality and focus the picture.

The world in Christina Lynch's novel is truly technicolor: I feel like I know everyone in the village and would have no problem navigating through the world she has created in her book. It was a wonderful reading experience.

NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.