Monday, April 5, 2010

The Italian Matchmaker - Santa Montefiore


"Do you believe in love after death?" Asks the cover of Santa Montefiore's The Italian Matchmaker and whether you are a believer or a skeptic, the magic of Incantellaria will weave itself around you to make you believe. Santa Montefiore has got that special thing which takes her readers right inside the pages of the book and if possible, get you so involved that you can feel the pulse of the book, how she must have felt while writing it. You can almost feel and smell the wet ink. I have only read two of Montefiore's books: The Italian Matchmaker and The Sea of Lost Love and both left my quench for romance completely satisfied. Her books will satiate even the most die hard of romantics.

The Italian Matchmaker revolves around Luca, an English Italian who sensationally quits The City and over night turns from one of London's most profilic bankers to a forty-something, divorced father of two ,who doesn't quite know where his life went. He decides to hie himself off to the sleepy little village of Incantellaria on Italy's Amalfi coast where his parents have recently bought and renovated an old palace, for some reflection and self-study. When he arrives at the village, he sees on the beach, a young woman and a little boy who instantly tug at his heart; consequently he sees them in and around Incantellaria and unable to get them out of his head, he sets about trying to befriend them. If only it were so simple; Incantellaria hides a few secrets and Luca's parents' Palazzo Montelimone is right in the thick of it. Darting, weaving and dancing in and around the town's morbid and fascinating past is the family of the woman Luca saw on the beach. Who are they all? What are their lives about? Most importantly who is this woman with the sad eyes and the solemn little boy who is with her all the time?

You might form some impressions of the ending while reading the book and they may or may not be true; but this doesn't spoil the pleasure of reading The Italian Matchmaker. This book is first and last about the beauty of life and of love. Both have been celebrated tremendously in a delicious plot, well-fleshed out characters and a setting so mesmerizing that it is all you can do not to catch the next flight to Italy. Whatever minor glitches or complaints the readers may have, they pale beneath the beauty of the book. The Italian Matchmaker is a beautiful, beautiful read. The villagers say that once you come to Incantellaria, it is hard to leave; it is the same thing with Montefiore's books: you can't put them down.

6 comments:

Avinash S Bajaj said...

wow!! you really love the writer dont you :)
very well written post...its so lively..there is so much excitement in your voice..awesome :)
well, i am not one for romantic novels, so i am pretty sure i am not picking this up but i love the way you have composed this post...good going :)

Whitney said...

This is a beautiful post, almost as beautiful as the book sounds :)

Pavi said...

Oh! you just cant put them down at all!!! NEVER!!..Take that from a person programmed, by default,to put every single book down no matter wat after reading the first 10 pages and resuming back to it after a few days..I just cant do that with her books..I've also read only those two books (Shame on me!)but i must say..I finished reading each one within 5-6 hrs at a stretch..GOD!!WHAT A WRITER!!..I'm her number one fan...

And this is such a gorgeous book..Wayyy better than sea of lost love(her previous book) Besides that book being fabulous to say the least..The Italian Matchmaker left me absolutely speechless,breathless,senseless and wat not..I mean noone could make a story with a string of grief attached along through the entire length of the plot, end with a wholesome feeling of LOVE..Love that is of no bounds!! .I couldn help but wonder how on earth did this woman transport such delicate emotions onto the paper and back to the reader with the same,if not, much more intensity!!
I can keep goin on..But you gotta read it to FEEL it:)Santa Montefiore is a Blessed writer to say the least.

Priya Iyer said...

i have something on my blog for you... do come over and accept it!! :)

Shweta said...

I am adding this author to my list. Haven't read any but I know I want to.

Btw Vaishnavi this Bikerguy seems to be quite a fan of yours :)

If you don't mind my saying the background of the main blog post kind of makes it difficult to read the post. Distracting in a way. A white one or a plain one would be pleasing to the eyes :)

Vaishnavi said...

@Avi - Thanks! Yeah I love her books and I have been combing bookstores for her other novels but not able to find them!

@Whitney - Thanks so much! If you decide to pick up this book I sincerely hope you enjoy it :)

@Pavi - Definitely longest comment award :) Thank you for bringing Santa Montefiore's books to my notice in the first place :)

@Priya - Thanks a lot! :)

@Shweta - Do! You will enjoy her books! And LOL bikerguy is my best friend Avinash....I sort of threaten/cajole/blackmail him into commenting...poor guy! :) I am sorry you are inconvenienced by the template, I was afraid of that but I am yet to find one that I like better than this one :-/ I will keep looking though, if it gets unbearable I will change it but till then please do bear with me!