One Italian Summer
Part one of my Glow Girl Summer Book Club. If you are looking for a free printable with book club questions you can use with your favorite book, click here.
And for ALL things reading, check out this full compilation.
Who knew that such an impulse grab would change my life? #nospoilers
Or in other words, those who can’t go, read!
After an over-indulgent trip to the library with my kids, the new fiction section is right by the checkout desk and I spotted this book on the end display. Since I had read two of Rebecca’s other books (good, so good), and we were on the cusp of summer, it was an easy grab to put on top of my toppling stack.
And to completely seal the deal that I would love this book, the opening quote is from the character Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore girls, my ultimate comfort show. (I also heard that Lauren Graham, the actor who portrayed Lorelai narrates the audio version!)
This story was so much more than I expected and really offered so many lessons of personal growth and thought provoking insights into the lives of those we love, before we existed, before they belonged to each of the things in their lives. I went through my own journey of feeling lost and came through it with a deeper sense of knowing myself and living with more authenticity and integrity.
Katy really goes through her own self-discovery process and I feel in the end, learns some important discoveries to really help her live a life that lights her up going forward. It is such a beautiful story we can use to reflect on for our own personal growth.
“I hope you’ll understand someday that just because you become a mother doesn’t mean you stop being a woman.”
Mother-Daughter Relationship
Katy’s mom is her whole world and so much of her life experiences and stories she holds dearly to be true start to unravel when her mom passes away and she takes a trip she and her mom Carol were meant to take together.
As someone who lost her mom just as she was becoming a mom, hitting mid-life and feeling somewhat adrift as to who I really was, I could relate to this story. I wish that through my own sort of magic, I could experience my own version of this story. I have so many of my own questions and I would love to have her perspective on things, to ask what I never thought to be important until I was at my own sort of crossroads in life.
To help with the reminders that I most need to hear for myself, I created this meditation to help me. If you’ve lost your mom or are desiring a stronger relationship, I encourage you to listen.
One growth side to losing her is that it fueled my desire to find understanding and answers on my own personal growth journey. Feeling that gnawing sense of lack, it’s kept me searching to find answers within myself. I’ve gone deep into my family ancestry and explored what I want my relationships with my family to look like, how I want to cultivate them. Understanding where I came from and what formed me has provided a lot of clarity and confidence.
The Setting
The town of Positano nearly becomes a character itself in this book. I was completely swept up into the bohemian energy of the place and the possibility of suspending belief in order to answer some of our deepest questions. I love that the story was based on the author’s own trip to the town and that her real experiences were woven in as a bit of an Easter egg. This bit of trivia gives me a piece of evidence to hold onto and inspires me to carve out some time to work on my own novel idea that was sparked on a family trip this year. One more nugget to help me build my confidence to follow that nudge in life.
Katy’s experiences in Positano offer a glimpse into “what if” that I find myself toying with once in a while. Not so much out of regret, but to better understand the past and fill in some of the gaps to help the now click into focus. I think that, like Katy, we all live with a certain set of stories that only show one version of the truth and getting a glimpse into more fully understanding a different viewpoint of it, of having more information, we can feel a sense of wholeness with ourselves. And see that we are each searching for similar answers, if only we’re curious enough to ask the questions. Since life doesn’t work like fiction, it’s important to spark that curiosity before the moment passes us by.
Book club Questions & Journal Prompts
I’ve really found that journaling or talking through questions helps me work through my swirl of thoughts and gain some real insights. To help us untangle some of the red threads through our own lives and to make connections we haven’t noticed, I’ve written a few book club questions and journal prompts to guide you through getting started.
In the book, they discover that the best views in a place are action a view OF the place. What is a situation when a different vantage point would have helped you see something more clearly?
What is a relationship you wish you could revisit and see from a different perspective?
What are questions you never asked your parents? Parts of their histories you don’t know? How has that shaped you and your stories, the stories you believe about them?
“History, memory is by definition fiction. Once an event is no longer present, but remembered, it is narrative. And we can choose the narratives we tell—about our own lives, our own stories, our own relationships. We can choose the chapters we give meaning.”
The whole town of Positano is built around one story. What are the stories you have built your life about? Are they true? What purpose are they serving? Are you worried your world will fall apart if you challenge them? How might it help you if you were able to reframe them?
Reflect on an experience where you thought you knew someone and then you get a glimpse of the real them, the one they belong to them… spouse, job, kids, realities of adulting. How have you changed since you belong to them? What would most surprise people to learn, to really see about you?
“Every day the world is born again. Every day the sun rises. It is a miracle, I think.
A simple, everyday miracle. Life.”
This book gave me so much to think about and process, feelings wise. I cried several times throughout the book, letting myself really be present in the story and translate the emotions Katy was going through into ones I haven’t fully processed in my own life. Knowing that emotional release was a long time coming and to welcome it and let it flow through. It helped me connect with things that I didn’t consciously realize I was holding onto and give them a bit of acknowledgement and love before releasing at least a tiny bit of them. It’s usually not a one and done process, but definitely made me feel a bit lighter and a comforted that my shadows were finding a bit of light.
Grow Your Glow
To help us untangle some of the red threads through our own lives and to make connections we haven’t noticed while enjoying a good summer beach read, I’ve written a few more book club questions and journal prompts to guide you deeper into One Italian Summer and into your inner self.
For a deeper dive into the personal growth lessons of this book, check out my printable with an even deeper dive into questions you can use as journal prompts or with your book club. The list will help you take a deeper look at the stories in this book and use them to help you have a true Glow Girl Summer that will carry on for seasons to come.
And if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, click here and I’ll let you know when I share the questions for my next book club picks of summer.
What did you think of these questions? What would you add to the list? I love using the amazing stories in books that I loved as a springboard for my reflection on my own personal growth. Leave a comment below and share your favorite moments or quotes from the book.
Reminder that this is part one of my Glow Girl Summer Book Club. For the rest of the titles, click here
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Stephanie Rose is a mom, wife, business owner and a forever student in finding ways to know herself better. She acts as guide for your own journey, sharing insights, tools and practices to help you remember your magic and live a life that lights you up. Sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.
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