I love reading books set in faraway lands. The second best thing to traveling is
armchair traveling…and it’s sure cheaper!
So, if you, like me, are not finding yourself traveling to Italy this
summer, travel along with Jess Walter and his fantastic book set in Italy, Los
Angeles and Seattle. Told in several
different time periods, the Italy-portion of the book starts off in the early
1960s. Pasquale,
a lonely Italian innkeeper, has his world turned upside-down when a
beautiful American actress comes to stay in his fledgling hotel. The actress, as it turns out, is on a break
from the Cleopatra (the 1963 film) set,
which is filming in Rome. The actress’
stay in the small hotel changes the lives of everyone involved…including some
members of the Cleopatra crew, which
is how some of the story ends up in present day Los Angeles.
The Italian storyline in particular is filled with a
plethora of imagery of coastal Italy.
Walter, in vivid detail, describes the dilapidated hotel and the even
smaller, more pathetic village it sits in.
As I was reading, I felt transported to this village, just south of the
Cinque Terre (very popular coastal resort towns in Italy) but not close enough
to be part of that very prestigious tourist mecca. Because everyone flocks to the towns of
Cinque Terre, Pasquale’s village and
his hotel are practically business-free and most definitely tourist-free. With that imagery, I was able to perfectly
picture the town, the hotel and the breathtaking views that the hotel
overlooks.
For a good summer, beach read, you would not go wrong with Beautiful Ruins; all of the wonders and vistas of Italy without
leaving home or spending a Euro!
