ITALIAN LESSONS
Peter Pezzelli
Kensington
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0758220502
ISBN-13: 9780758220509

• About the Book
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview –– October 12, 2007

Fans of Peter Pezzelli’s previous books will recognize the territory covered in ITALIAN LESSONS. Set mostly in a Rhode Island college town, with intermittent flashbacks and jaunts to various Italian vistas, the book harkens back to many of the well-traversed places and themes explored in home to italyand FRANCESCA'S KITCHEN. But just as many authors tend to write what they know, so, too, does Pezzelli with his latest novel. Although he may not attract hordes of new readers (or sustain the rapt attention of old ones) with his semi-repetitive approach to storytelling, the fact is that Pezzelli has found a formula that works for him --- and, it seems, for his readers.

The book’s young protagonist, Carter Quinn, has just graduated from college and is without a plan --- at least an entrepreneurial one. Instead, he’s hoping to travel to Italy to find Elena, the girl of his dreams --- or so he thinks. Despite the fact that he had only spent one blissful night with her, and the nagging point that he knows nothing about her aside from the fact that she’s from Italy and has gone back home to finish school, Carter is head over heels in love and must track her down at all costs to tell her how he feels.

Throwing all caution (and rationality) to the wind, he decides to put off getting a “real” job in favor of following his heart. The problem is, he can’t speak the language. So he seeks out the help of a music professor, Giancarlo Rosa, who has been known to give Italian lessons from time to time. While the two don’t hit it off at first, little by little their attitudes about each other --- and the task at hand --- begin to change. After weeks of rigorous training, Carter is finally ready to embark on his journey.

Before Carter leaves, Giancarlo gives him a watch to bring with him to Italy. The watch had belonged to his father, and Giancarlo wants Carter to travel to the tiny hamlet in the mountains where he grew up, to return the watch to his estranged brother, Giorgio, whom Giancarlo hasn’t seen in 30 years. The reason for the two brothers’ falling out remains a mystery to Carter, but because of his professional relationship with his teacher, he refrains from digging too far into Giancarlo’s past and just agrees to deliver the package --- but only after he finds Elena.

What Carter eventually finds out about Elena may not come to much of a surprise to astute readers, but the lesson he learns is valuable, nonetheless. In fact, his much-anticipated encounter with her is almost an afterthought to what happens when Carter meets Giorgio and his family. When tragedy strikes, and Carter becomes the catalyst for a brotherly reunion after three decades, he realizes that maybe his ill-fated trip was worth it after all.

ITALIAN LESSONS is at once romantic, life-affirming and surprisingly entertaining to read. While the plot might seem too carefully crafted and clichéd to be realistic at times, less snarky readers who are willing to suspend their urge to critique in favor of being swept away will guiltily grasp onto this neatly wrapped-up story that is ripe for the silver screen. Connoisseurs of all things Italian will delight in the various Italian foodstuffs, cities, phrases and quirky Italian-esque habits mentioned throughout the book (including their maniacal driving tactics), and those in need of taking a risk or two might find themselves thinking twice about the well-worn path they’ve planned for themselves.

With ITALIAN LESSONS, Pezzelli wasn’t trying to write an opus, and he succeeds at what he sets out to do. As Carter and Giancarlo both learn at the end of the story, sometimes the best things and experiences in life are those that aren’t mired in excessive analysis, but those that are enjoyed for what they are in their simplest, purest form.

   --- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

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