Book Review – Dreaming of Florence by T.A. Williams
First published, 2018
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Debbie Waterson is an English teacher, living and working in Cambridge, 29-years-old, paying off her student debt, painfully aware of her working class background and rather embarrassed by it.
When a handsome Italian walks into the road without looking and knocks her off her bicycle, Debbie soon loses herself to the dream of her happy place, a bench in a rose garden, which may or may not exist, somewhere in Florence.
With a lack of job security and after a romantic week with Florentine, Pierluigi, Debbie finds herself wondering if this might be her chance to start her life again in the city of her dreams.
And it’s happened again. I’ve read something set abroad, and now I need to travel. I really liked the character of Dario, a kind-hearted, academically-inclined, overall good guy. As much as I didn’t much like the main character of Debbie, I found her believable and much of the time, I was rooting for her. I found her lack of self-belief rather irritating given that she was tall, beautiful, fit, educated and with a good bum.
That said, this was a very romantic story, with believable characters and wonderful scenery, Dreaming of Florence seems, to me, to be the perfect summer read – especially now that travel is basically off the cards for most, if not all of us – why not have a little romantic getaway with a novel?
Petrina Binney - Author 