When In Rome A.K.A. 4 hours of my life I'm never getting back...

This book was chosen as the first book of the year for my bookclub, and this has been the first book we've chosen that hasn't been amazing. But this book was anything but amazing. 


The novel is the autobiographical reminiscences of Penelope Green, who, nearing her thirtieth birthday, decided to desert her life in Sydney, Australia, and move to Italy. She arrives in the foreign country with no job, only a few friends, and no real plans other than attending an international language school to improve her Italian. Sounds like the beginning of many similar such stories, like Almost French by Sarah Turnbull, and Holy Cow by Sarah McDonald. But the fact that this is a story about an Australian girl heading overseas is where the similarities end, mainly because, unlike those other books, both of which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed, Green's experience in Italy hasn't been shaped into any reocgnisable narrative, and is almost completely unremarkable.


The story is littered with boring cliches, and offers no real insights into Italian culture, or the people she meets in her travels. As I was reading it, I got the feeling that I could have gleaned anecdotes more interesting from Wikipedia, or even reading a travel guide (where the author seems to have gained most of her facts about the country). 


I really don't like being negative about books, as everyone likes different books for different reasons, but despite trying for a long while to find a positive about this one, I've come up with nothing. If I wanted to read about a single girl gallivanting about with a string of different men, I'd read Marian Keyes, who would have me laughing out loud, and if I wanted to read about a single girl moving to a new country where she doesn't know any, I'd read one of the books mentioned above. If I specifically wanted to read about Italy, I hear Lonely Planet does a roaring trade in informative and useful guide books. But this just fell completely flat, and was the first book in a long while that was a chore and a difficulty to get through. 


My hot tip is, if the only positive endorsement a publisher can get for a new book is from Australian Women's Weekly, don't bother taking it off the shelf. 


My next read is Emma, by Jane Austen, and thousands of positive recommandations (and the fact I've read it once before and loved it) can't be wrong! 


Happy reading. 


Too-Roo! 
Em