Finding Serenissima - Apple Gidley - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Apple Gidley

GENRE: Contemporary Women's Fiction.

PUBLICATION DATE: March 11, 2025

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary women’s fiction about second chances in life and love. The Italian setting is great. But the writing style and the character development didn’t work much for me. I think those who enjoy romances based in exotic places might like this better. This is an outlier review.

Plot Preview:

When Leo, Amelia’s husband of forty-two years passes away after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s, Amelia wants a change from their island home in Patanga. She decides to move to Italy for a fresh start in life and to find ‘serenissima’ – serenity.

In Venice, she finds herself pondering over her past and her life with Leo, while still discovering new joys and challenges. Can she rediscover herself at her age, or is it too late?

The story comes to us in Amelia’s third-person perspective.

I don’t read “destination stories” as they often sound the same: a woman goes to an exotic place after some kind of heartbreak and finds love with a local. As this book had a senior citizen in the lead, I hoped it would be different, telling us the story of a widow trying to overcome grief and to stand on her own after many years of marital togetherness. I was not prepared for so much romance to be present in this plot. So take this review with a pinch of salt because many of the issues I mention below stem from my reading preferences.

My favourite part of the book is the honest depiction of Amelia’s conflicted feelings over Leo. The initial chapter shows her grief, but as the story progresses, we see more details of their marriage, not all of which are savoury. Yet, Amelia constantly talks to Leo in her mind and even wonders at times what he might have done in a particular situation. It is a genuine depiction of how even toxic long-term relationships can be tough to overcome after the partner’s death.

The bond between Amelia and her two daughters Moira and Lucy is depicted well. (A little too well, I must say! There are 176 instances of the word ‘darling’ in the plot, and most of these are used by Amelia while addressing her girls.) However, I never felt like Moira and Lucy behaved their age. They were both independent working women on the other side of thirty-five, but acted like they had just stepped into adulthood.

The setting of Venice is beautifully depicted. The picturesque nature of the location and the bigheartedness of its denizens are incorporated effectively into the plot. On the flip side, there are many scenes where the writing seems to go into “trivia dumping”. While I did like learning so much about Italy, I didn’t feel that the facts sprung up organically from the flow of the plot in most cases. There are also some generalisations about Italians (and of a couple of other nationalities); never a welcome addition.

The plot can be described as a journey of self-discovery. As such, there are plenty of tiny events but no overarching storyline. The story spans multiple years, but the passage of time is mentioned sporadically. Often, the narrative jumps weeks and even months, and we learn how much time has passed only when someone mentions it. The result is that the story feels very rushed, as we are seeing a whole load of events at surface level but not exploring them in detail.

The feeling of shallowness is heightened by the somewhat hazy scene detailing. The writing focusses mainly on “essential events.” That is to say, anything that doesn’t contribute to the core plot is not on the page. Amelia is a photographer, but we hardly ever see her working on her craft. We learn that she goes to a language class only when she mentions her “close friends” from the class in a conversation with someone else. One scene shows the main characters prepping for a big party at their home, but the next scene is directly post-party. Many key scenes that could have added emotional depth to the storyline are kept in the background and mentioned only in passing later in the timeline.

Another reason for the lack of depth is that most of the plot development happens through conversations. (This writing choice never works for me.) Most of the conversations have Amelia as a part of them (which is obvious as we see the story through her POV.) As such, whenever Amelia has only a passive or listening role, the scene is hurried over. But when she has things to say, the conversation lasts longer. There are even scenes where Amelia either talks to herself or talks to Leo in spirit. So what could have been inner monologues or introspection also comes mostly through direct speech. Moreover, the conversations are restricted to a select few characters. Even when three or more people are in the scene, the dialogues focus mainly on what Amelia says and on the person directly responding to her. Adam and Mike, both of whom have fairly important roles in the key characters’ lives, are silent even in scenes where they have an active part to play.

Quite a few dialogues have Italian words, but not to worry on this account: there’s a helpful glossary at the end of the book for all the Italian lingo.

There is a good deal of romance in the story, which I wasn’t prepared for. The romance is mostly closed-door, but the foreplay is explicit in a scene. The three main ladies – Amelia and her daughters – each have relationships and relationship struggles. So there are many scenes focussing on potential and actual partners. This would have been fine had there been a limit on the number of partners. However, almost every (straight) male character is presented as a potential partner for Amelia or her daughters, which gets boring after a while. Also, for some reason, Amelia is considered a great source of relationship advice, so there are scenes where a younger woman or a gay man wants romantic guidance from her. Again, repetitive.

I must also add: in a story that’s supposed to be heartwarming, I did not expect to find a tragic (and I mean, really tragic) plot development. I was totally taken aback by its unexpected appearance. This could be a major trigger for some readers, so check out the content warnings list below the review.

All in all, while the plot has some lovely Italian imagery and a good depiction of how one can have a fresh start at any point in life, the speech-intense writing style and some of the plot choices didn’t work for me. I was looking for an older woman’s independent journey of self-fulfilment, which does happen. But I didn’t expect a part of the fulfilment to come through a new relationship. All this meant that I was mostly disconnected from this conversation-driven story. The other ratings clearly prove that I am very much an outlier in my opinion, so please go through other reviews before you take a call on this book.

A shout-out to that stunning cover full of 'serenissima'. 

Recommended to those who enjoy destination romances, second-chance romances, and older-character romances. Do check the triggers list first.

2.5 stars. (Rounding up wherever applicable as most of my issues are due to the incongruence with my reading preferences.)

My thanks to author Apple Gidley for providing the DRC of “Finding Serenissima” via BookSirens. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Content Warnings:

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW:

Alzheimer's and dementia, spousal death, infidelity, post-partum blues, baby death due to SIDS.