"Three Summers is a novel drenched in sun and shadow, where the intoxicating beauty of an Italian summer is forever altered by a single, devastating night."
It's a sumptuous immersion into a tiny, richly coloured Italian fishing port, brought vividly to life by Karen Swan’s evocative pen. This is Italy in full bloom: where cicadas sing in jasmine-scented air, where ancient olive groves stretch near lemon-tree-lined drives, bougainvillea tumbles over walls, and dazzling turquoise waters lap a small golden beach. By page eight, I was ready to book a flight to the land of affogato, gelato and granita.
Against this backdrop of Neapolitan-coloured villas, cerulean fishing boats and whizzing Piaggios, we meet a cast of characters whose lives are intricately entwined.
The Giannellis, the Duke of Paliano and his children, Fede, Romola and Cosimo, who arrive each year from Rome to their seaside retreat; and a web of friendships. At the heart of it all is Rafaella: she's not like the other local girls. She listens more than she speaks and dreams of a future beyond marriage and motherhood, daring to imagine a life as a writer or a teacher in a place where women rarely have careers. Her emotional depth makes the novel’s exploration of young love - flirtation, longing and unspoken desire; its awkwardness, innocence and intensity - especially poignant.
Told through multiple perspectives, Three Summers is a lush, immersive and quietly devastating read. One night brings tragedy, and with it grief, guilt and heartbreak that ripple outward, touching everyone. When the narrative moves forward to Otranto, 1961, four years after that fateful summer, the novel transforms. This is the second half of the book: the aftermath. Karen Swan handles this dual structure beautifully. The “before” glows with heat, colour and possibility; the “after” is quieter, heavier, infused with longing and regret. Together, they create a deeply emotional portrait of youth fading into adulthood, and of how love can shape a life forever. What a love story. A truly transporting read.
| Primary Genre | Romance / Relationship Stories |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
A positive rollercoaster of a story - engaging, romantic, intriguing and sometimes exciting. It covers all aspects of a worthwhile read.
Set in Italy, the story of the relationship between a group of friends over the course of three summers. It’s not all sweetness and light - life throws a few lemons along the way as you would expect in most good books.
I enjoyed this book. It starts a little slowly, but the action begins to hot up as the story progresses and accelerates to a gripping and satisfying finish. The setting is wonderful and the descriptions are very vivid, just by closing my eyes I could very easily imagine myself in stunning Puglia. The characters are well drawn and realistic, some definitely more likeable than others. There are some real ‘badduns’ believe me! The plot line is actually quite a dark one, a little different to Karen Swan’s normal style of writing.... Read Full Review
I always know that when I pick up a Karen Swan novel, due to her thorough research, I’m going to be transported to a fascinating and realistic location.
Characters are well developed and credible. Although originally the story does not move at pace, the use of different characters for each chapter develops the storylines from different points of view, supported by evocative descriptions of life in the Italian village.
Many themes are covered in this book; love, loyalty, friendship & class conflicts all set against an accurate historical background.
Gradually the sunny carefree days of youth become darker and more uncomfortable.The final part of the novel had me racing through wanting to know how events were going to turn out.
This certainly was not the light summer romance suggested by the cover, it has soul and unexpected twists.... Read Full Review
This book is full of twists and turns, but is a great read.
Three Summers is a story about friendships and love, jealousy, murder, smuggling, kidnapping but most of all secrets.
The first summer lays the foundation to the story of friends living in an Italian seaside village and during the summer they have the rich villa owners arrive each summer. The friendships started when everyone was young and continued every summer. During the 1st summer a lot happens to the main characters, Rafaella, Cosimo, Fede, Romola, Gina, Alfonso and Dante, which leads to a very short 2nd summer.
The following summer Dante and Gina, Alsonso and Rafaella marry. Rafaella becomes a teacher.
The 3rd summer everything comes to a head.... Read Full Review
Click to read an opening extract here
If you love Lucinda Riley and Santa Montefiore, don't miss this sweeping and escapist new summer romance - preorder now!
'Transported me to Italy . . . very evocative' Fern Britton, the Sunday Times bestselling author
Tricase Porto, Puglia, Italy
1957: The summer of innocence
Amongst the lemon trees, Rafaella Parisi impatiently waits for the summer visitors to arrive in her small fishing village on the coast of Puglia. She may be dating Fon Gianelli, but there is one person she longs to see: Cosimo - son of the wealthy Franchetti family.
1958: The summer everything changed
After a devastating accident at the lavish Franchetti villa, Rafa makes a vow that changes the course of all their futures…
1961: The summer they met again…
And when Rafa and Cosi's lives collide, Rafa must decide if she's willing to risk the life she has built for the future she might have had…
Three Summers features in the following genres: Audiobooks of the Month, Star Books, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories, Modern and Contemporary romance, Fiction, Modern and Contemporary romance
Three Summers is available in Paperback, Audiobook, Ebook, Hardback
Three Summers was written by Karen Swan and published by Penguin Books an imprint of Transworld
Three Summers has 453 pages
£8.99
