So this is a book that wriggled its way onto my TBR for April without me even realising. I was just suddenly hit with the overwhelming OH-MY-GOODNESS-I-NEED-TO-CONSUME-THIS-BOOK-RIGHT-NOW feeling.

So here we are!

Let’s dive right in!

(Found on Goodreads)

Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?

You know when you love a book but can’t even explain why?

THAT.

End of review.

No, I’m joking of course.

Although I really am going to have a hard time explaining what it is about this book that stole my heart so easily.

Because right from the first few pages I was in love. But it’s not even like anything really happens in the book. Like a lot of classics, the littlest thing is a massive drama of deceit, betrayal and humiliation in society.  Meaning compared to the books/movies/TV shows/stories/news we hear of…well, they’re pretty uneventful.

But somehow, I adored this book. It honestly made my heart sing. Whether it was because I was suddenly in the mood for it, or because this is the sort of classic I like to read, or if it was just E.M Forster’s writing…but something just clicked in exactly the right place for me.

A lot of it was just the general atmosphere of the book. It made me feel like Lucy, wanting to travel to Italy and learn everything she can while there. It gave almost a whimsical glaze over the idea of travelling and discovering new things, and really hit that sense of wanderlust in me. Especially when the surroundings were described so beautifully. I’m telling you: this book is responsible for my future trip to Italy.

But it’s not just Italy.  Even the little countryside style town Lucy lives in made me want to go rambling around amongst fields and woodland. I don’t know. I just wholeheartedly wanted to live inside this book. Everything about it was so lovely.

That’s exactly the word I’d choose for this book – lovely. 

It’s quaint. Charming. Picturesque. And just outright LOVELY.

The characters were all quite quirky too. There were certainly a fair few that annoyed the hell out of me. But just like Lucy – and most classic characters really – I learned to grin and bare them. Put up a front of civilities. It really did feel like I was inside this book, alongside Lucy Honeychurch.  Everything was so genuine to the time, I loved it.

Anyway, I feel like this review is becoming more nonsensical as I write. But basically – I adored this book in a totally unexpected way, and it’s without a doubt a new favourite classic of mine.

Rated 4.5/5 stars!

Share your thoughts!

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Would you recommend any of his other books?

If you haven’t read this one, do you plan to?

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Come and visit me!