If I was able to I would have not given this book any stars. I was extremely disappointed with this novel because I had been hooked in by the author cIf I was able to I would have not given this book any stars. I was extremely disappointed with this novel because I had been hooked in by the author comments, particularly Luanne Rice, and the book jacket, both of which presented this as a novel of mother daughter relationships and of friendship among women against a background of the exotic setting of Italy and its artistic environment. The first chapter immediately piqued my interest, and I expected to immerse myself in the back and forth portrayal of a woman, her life and loves, and the eventual story of her daughter's birth. From the introduction, I knew there would be a tangled web of relationships and characters, but having read many "women's lit" authors, I was eager to lose myself in an engrossing story far removed from my own life, yet realistic enough to allow me to care for the characters. Unfortunately, this is not what I encountered. First of all, after the first few chapters, I felt myself losing interest in the main character and her new friends in Italy...they all seemed extremely self-absorbed and distant, and I could not muster any interest in their lives. Secondly, there were continuous hints of sexual deviance which clouded my desire to read the book. I have no issue with reading about homosexuality, etc. (Picoult's Sing You Home is one of my favorite books, among others), but the undertones of other life styles, such as transvestites and sexual encounters involving whips, etc, and multiple partnesr, well, that went a bit too far for my taste. There was no indication in the book summary or the critiques by the other writers that this book dealt so graphically with sex, and that is why I was so disappointed. I gave up reading the book about halfway through, and my sister-in-law, who was also reading it, abandoned it when she was a bit further on than I was. I don't normally like to write such a negative review, but I really was disappointed and sorry that I wasted my time. Not a great read for me at all........more
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