general

• quick summary - this story follows four dissatisfied english women from different walks of life who embark on a journey to a secluded and beautiful italian villa, where they rediscover joy, friendship, and themselves, ultimately finding happiness in unexpected ways.
• key themes - escapism, nature, self-discovery, love, second chances.
• fav character - lotty was the best one out of them, and the one who married the least worst man (this is not a compliment).

interests

• what i found interesting - the descriptions of the natural world were beautiful, and you could almost feel like you were there on holiday with the ladies too. I also enjoyed how different the personalities and struggles of each woman were. I really like the message of being 'selfish' and doing something for yourself just because, especially when it comes from a woman—almost a hundred years later and many women still feel the same. the writing was extremely ironic and funny at times.
• what i learned - where hampstead was lol
• fav quote - there were so many funny quotes about husbands and men but "such beauty; and she there to see it. such beauty; and she alive to feel it".

rating

• 2.75/5 - the synopsis of this book is very misleading. I was expecting a story about four different women who rediscover the pleasures of life through female friendship in the italian countryside, but instead I got four women who barely wanted to interact with each other, and the unfortunate visit of horrible men who did not know how to treat them properly. you would think that the slow pace of the story would allow for well-developed characters, but despite their interesting backgrounds, this was not accomplished. I don't want to spend time writing about the men, but from infidelity, to fickleness, including almost contempt for the women in their lives, none of them could be saved in my eyes. these ladies had to be away from men for a while only to go back to their arms just because they spent some time in italy...? if anything, they would have realized how shitty they were. what substantial changed actually happened to their characters? this could have been beautiful and deep, but it was just a big disappointment. it was on my tbr for three years for absolutely no reason.