The two men instantly re-connect and rekindle their childhood friendship. He has returned ‘home to Italy.’ Peppi’s prowess as a racing cyclist is still remembered in the village. Luca realises instantly that this is none other than his childhood friend Peppi. “ There was something so familiar about the rider, something about his posture as he rolled up the group.” Luca pauses and gazes through his dark sunglasses at the newcomer. There is such a heart-warming moment in the story when, on one Sunday morning, the group encounters an older rider cycling towards them up the hill. Still, he was greatly respected by all for the racing exploits of his youth.” Years ago, when he was young, he would have been the first one there. “The group of cyclists was assembled by the fountain when Luca finally rode on the piazza. Once we fast forward the years in between, Luca still cycles but is no longer the leader of the group. From being a boy in Italy he had loved to race on his bicycle with his best friend Luca and other cycling enthusiasts in a group. After the death of his beloved wife, Anna, he decides to return to the family mulino in Villa San Giuseppe, a small village in the Abruzzi mountains near Sulmona, a place where he was born and spent his formative years.Īn important thread running through the book is Peppi’s passion for cycling. Grief settles heavily over Peppino, our main character, an immigrant living in America. It is about new beginnings and starting over. Marriage, love, work, friends and family, sometimes death and tragedy. It is a story about the trials and tribulations of life. This is a lovely, easy read and feel-good book - the perfect read for anyone seeking an escape to the Italian countryside. In this delightful, moving novel, Peter Pezzelli brings to life the earthy sensuality of Italy’s Abruzzo region- the smell of just-baked bread wafting through the village piazza the shopkeepers sweeping the sidewalks first thing in the morning groups of cyclists dotting the mountain roads-and spins a story of May-December romance as sharp and delicious as the olives of Villa San Giuseppe. When her father’s best friend returns to Abruzzo, Lucrezia, a beautiful widow, finds herself drawn to this handsome American who is also haunted by tragedy, and together they embark on a passionate relationship that heals the pain of the past and gives them both a second chance at love.
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