Ep. 37: Italy (Death at La Fenice + One Italian Summer)

Summary: Ciao, bella! Welcome to the first stop on our Summer Jetset Series - Italy! Today Devin and Holly visit Venice and Positano together to understand the close relationship between love and death in Italy. Since the time of Shakespeare, the country has been a place of passion in literature (second only, perhaps, to France). They agree that regardless of your prior experience visiting the country, novels set in the country are always vivid, intriguing, and colorful. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Dagger (4:19): Holly discussed Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon, a crime fiction novel set in Venice featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti. The book opens at the end of intermission at Teatro La Fenice; the conductor, Maestro Wallauer, has been poisoned and is dead on the floor of his dressing room. Holly’s key takeaways were:

• The mystery of who killed the Maestro is a slow burn through the book. Brunetti’s tactics are conversation focused, and the novel is the opposite of a templated popcorn thriller. That being said, it came together very effectively by the end. 

• Leon has lived in Venice for years and brought her experiences to the page; we get great behind-the-scenes looks at the Venetian opera house, excursions by canal around the city, and a colorful cast of Italian characters (most of whom are constantly smoking and drinking coffee) 

• This series is the Italian cousin to the Bruno Chief of Police series set in southern France; if you’re a fan of Louise Penny you’ll also likely enjoy these books! 

• The Heart (17:35): Devin discussed One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle, a novel set in Positano that follows Katy Silver on a vacation that was intended as a mother-daughter trip. When Katy’s mother dies before they can make it to the Amalfi Coast, Katy’s entire sense of reality and herself is turned upside down. She is unsure if she wants to stay in her marriage, and uses the vacation to get some space. Devin’s key takeaways were:

• This is essentially a time travel story; once Katy arrives, she meets her own mother (Carol) at 30 years old in the summer she had spent in Positano before meeting her husband and settling down. The time travel element isn’t fully explained and the reader is left unsure of how Katy travels back and forth across decades (best not to think too hard on this and just enjoy the story). 

• Searle explores this mother-daughter relationship in-depth through the novel. Katy has a romantic fling as well, but ultimately the book posits that Carol is her soulmate. Katy must learn how to reframe herself as an individual, instead of as a bonded pair with her mother. 

• Regardless of the plot holes, this novel had such vivid descriptions of Positano, the hotels, the hills, the restaurants, even Katy’s outfits, that the reader is fully drawn into the Italian adventure. The sense of place could not be stronger. 

• Hot On the Shelf (38:34):

• Holly: Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

• Devin: In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (41:15):

• Holly: Libro.fm 

• Devin: Ted Lasso Season 3 

 

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Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

 

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