Synopses & Reviews
From the author of
Hideous Kinky comes a charming, surprising, and utterly irresistible tale of adolescent love and self-discovery.
When seventeen-year-old Lara accepts her father's invitation to accompany him to a Tuscan villa for the summer, she's both thrilled and nervous for the exotic holiday. To her delight, she soon discovers that the villa's closest neighbors are the glamorous Willoughbys, the teenaged brood of a British millionaire. Caught up in their torrential thirst for amusement — and snared by Kip Willoughby's dark, flirtatious eyes — Lara sets off on a summer adventure full of danger, first love, and untold consequences that will irrevocably change her life.
Review:
"Freud, who is Sigmund Freud's great-granddaughter and Lucien Freud's daughter, echoes some of the autobiographical material that enlivened her debut and biggest success,
Hideous Kinky, in this sixth novel. Lara, 17, is already a veteran of a transformative journey to the Far East with her mother as she sets out on a very different trip, from London to Italy with her reclusive father, Lambert. Lara's adolescent turns of mind, her changing relationship with 'Lamb' and her utterly contradictory (and utterly human) desires to be both in the world and safe at home make for a surprising and convincing character study. But Freud's engaging, insightful writing is undermined by antique plot devices: is Lamb also the father of Kip Willoughby, the cute boy at the adjacent villa? Was Kip conceived in an act of sexual revenge? Did the Willoughbys' grandfather once renege on a promise to bring Lara's grandparents out of WWII Germany? Still, the soap-opera drama doesn't ruin the book: one wants to remain with Freud's lively voice and to see what Lara makes of it all."
Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"[S]killfully traces Lara's journey from naive adolescence to the threshold of womanhood. At the same time, Freud entertains with lively descriptions of picnics, horse racing and the sunny ambience of rural Italy." Seattle Times
Review:
"[A]nother exotic coming-of-age novel, Freud once again captures the excitement, confusion, and sensuality of adolescence." Booklist
Review:
"A burnished glow suffuses this lovely novel about adult awakening. Enthusiastically recommended." Library Journal
Review:
"Freud remains in acute control of this account of a young girl's discovery of the power of sex to comfort and please — and of how quickly and cruelly that power can be taken away." New York Times
Review:
"[L]ingers with the reader like the bittersweet memories of a final summer vacation." San Francisco Chronicle
About the Author
Esther Freud is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud. She trained as an actress before writing her first novel. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages. She lives in London.
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