REVIEW
I loved A Villa With A View by Julie Caplin! It is filled with loads of charm, wit and playfulness. And not to mention a divine setting in Italy that shines with its rich palette of colour and delicious foods! The descriptions provided by Julie oozed atmosphere and yes made me want to pack my bags and jump on a plane and spend a summer in such a gorgeous place. It is a cultural haven with so much history to explore and fun experiences to sample.
Lia is a textile artist: and a gifted one at that. But she receives some unsettling results after she takes an ancestor DNA test, urged by a friend, and discovers she is fifty percent Italian. She approaches her mother with this news who reluctantly reveals the truth. Her father is not quite who she thought he was. The man who nurtured her is not her natural parent. This hits Lia hard and suddenly her identity is shaken. She has always felt like an outsider and very different from her mother and sister, who are business minded. Now she knows why she feels out of place but where does she go from here? To get answers she heads to Italy to meet her father (unannounced), to see who he is and if he has any likenesses to her. Lia needs someone she can identify with. This revelation has caused a shock even to her artistic abilities. She needs to come up with a design to win a special project. But all this new information shatters her core. Maybe if she meets her biological father, it will help her feel whole again? And she might also gain some inspiration for her art textile project in this gorgeous country. So off she goes, at odds with her mother for not revealing her parentage before and upset with her sister who defends her mother’s reasons. And the loving man who raised her gets lost in the trail of dust that follows.
The identity crisis is a big part of this story but it is also a contemporary romance novel with an enemy to lover’s plot. And there is plenty in that department to keep us intrigued. But hey wait, there is more! The theme or focus at its heart is family and what that means to Italians. It has been said that ‘Family is the foundation of society” in Italy. We see through Ernesto and his wife with their special care of their children ( a mixed family of his, hers and theirs) this is very true. No one person receives special treatment. They all do! (Well maybe Lia at first because she is a new member— similar to the arrival of a newborn! ) It is obvious this couple dearly love all their children. And if any new person enters the fold, like Lia, they receive the same care and attention, too. This acceptance stunned Lia—especially since they are such a close knit family. But they welcomed her with open arms. Well, all but one. Raphael, son of Ernesto’s wife is very suspicious of her motives, questioning her at every turn. He is overprotective of his stepfather because of past experiences.
Ernesto is a famous actor and moves in some prestigious circles so sharks often are lying in the waters waiting to take advantage. But Ernesto still seems cheerful, down to earth and generous with his profits, though a bit naïve maybe (or is he just acting?) when it comes to Layla (Raph’s old girlfriend who gets a star for her slippery though smooth performance). I suspected her real intentions but it appears Ernesto may not have, or did he? Hard to know when an actor/performer is not being an actor!
A Villa With A View gives us a comprehensive view of the Italian world through convincing characters. The bonds of this family are resilient and deeply rooted in ‘love, loyalty and support’ and it makes Lia miss her English family for they were close, too. Have they changed or is it just her from the realisation of her new found parentage? She must work out this new path to wholeness and it is a bumpy one at times but there are some pleasant surprises and victories along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed Lia’s journey and the characters that surround her. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to One More Chapter and Netgalley for my review copy.
