That's it. I'm going to Italy one day.
-- was what I thought as I finally closed the back cover of the book.
Love & Gelato left me in a sweet dream... until school started again.
In the beginning of spring break, I was at the library in search of a few books to read during the week. The two cute gelato cones on the cover of Jenna Welch's Love & Gelato immediately caught my eye. I had been wanting to read the novel ever since my friend had recommended it to me a long while ago, but every time I had searched for it, it had been checked out. And so I eagerly pulled the book from the shelf thinking Perfect! and happily took it home.
I was expecting a light read. And so I wasn't prepared when the main character's mother passed away from cancer in the first 4 1/3 pages of the book. The main character, Lina, is a 17-year-old girl who has lived alone with her mother her whole life. After her mother passes away, she gets sent to Italy to live with her mother's past lover, Howard, who Lina had no idea even existed and feels completely fine continuing to be unaware of. Lina starts her life in Italy with Howard, her "father" who somehow looks nothing like her, in a house in the middle of a cemetery (Howard works at a World War II memorial). She has no access to internet, which means that she can't FaceTime her best friend back in the U.S., so she relies on her mother's journal written during her time in Italy and a random half-American boy named Lorenzo whom she meets to guide her through her new (hopefully temporary) home. Lina is determined to go back to the U.S. and live with her best friend after summer ends. But as she begins reading through her mother's journal and exploring Italy, she starts to get tangled up--in her mother's past, her present, the dream-like landscape of Italy, and, of course, the absolutely delicious food. Welch's descriptions of Italy in Love & Gelato urges readers to visit Italy.
As she attempts to understand her mother's past, Lina walks through her mother's footsteps by following her journal entries. Lina visits the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and several other landmarks. The author provides vivid descriptions of the places through Lina's eyes, further romanticizing the view by the scene's mood and Lina's emotions. "'Young man. You want nice Prada handbag for girlfriend? Five hundred euro in store, but ten euro for you. Make her fall in true love.'
"'No thanks,' [Lorenzo] said.
"I nudged him. 'I don't know, Ren. That sounds like a pretty good deal. Ten bucks for true love?'
"He smiled, stopping in the center of the bridge. "You didn't see it, did you?'
"'See wha--oh.'
"I ran over to the railing. Stretched across the river, about a quarter mile ahead of us, was a bridge that looked like it had been built by fairies. Three stone arches rose gracefully out of the water, and the whole length of it was lined with a floating row of colorful buildings, their edges hanging over the water... the whole thing was lit golden in the darkness, its reflection sparkling back up at itself" (159). The author's development of Lina's relationship with Lorenzo impacts Lina's view of the moment and furthermore affects the reader's perception by adding a coat of a romantic, magical quality to the scene through delicate use of descriptions like "built by fairies" and "lit golden in the darkness."
The author's intricate word choice with describing food also plays a role in sprouting a desire into the reader to visit Italy. Throughout the novel, Lina not only witnesses beautiful scenery with her eyes, but also tastes some delicious foods with her tastebuds, including spaghetti, pizza, and, of course, stracciatella gelato (creamy milk gelato with hints of chocolate chip), which I can not leave out as an ice cream lover. "So... Italian gelato. Take the deliciousness of a regular ice-cream cone, times it by a million, then sprinkle it with crushed-up unicorn horns. [Lorenzo] stopped me after my fourth scoop. I probably would have kept going forever" (167). The author's intentionally ambiguous description of flavor leaves the reader imagining for themselves.
After reading Love & Gelato, I couldn't help but add "visit Italy" to my life bucket list. Welch's delicate descriptions of the scenery and food planted in me a love for Italy, leaving me dreaming about the possibility of experiencing the country myself.
