Masters Reading Response to An Italian Affair

I might get some jeers or curious looks from some of my fellow English peeps, but I truly enjoyed this snip-it from the novel. It was an easy read that I felt like I could really get deeper into the piece through the second person writing style. That way, as a reader, I was able to become part of the story and be Laura. The other thing that I really enjoyed about the story was the way that Italy was represented. Although it was the cliched idea that you go to Italy for an Italian man to sweep you off your feet and become your lover, it was really interesting the way the way that Laura Fraser writes it. It reminds me of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, when the main character goes to Italy on a whim and finds herself a Tuscan villa. In An Italian Affair, Laura goes to Italy to escape a bad divorce with her husband and finds a man who more or less is her imagination of what an affair should be like. He isn't even Italian, but a tourist himself. This is one of those times when Italy is portrayed as a matchmaking place, a place where people find what they are looking for. I don't know what it is or why it is that Italy continues to have this sort of reputation, but it continues to pop up in literature and movies, but it kind of earns this reputation as a magical sort of place where love blossoms. It could be because of the art that exists, or the architecture, or the discovery of knowledge that has occurred here. I know for myself, there is a sense of awe for visiting people and that awe seems to turn into lust in this book, especially sense the couple is traveling together to see beauty in the scenery. Italy seems to be a place that is a catalyst for this affair.