A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay

Art restorer Emily Price has never encountered anything she can’t fix—until she meets Ben, an Italian chef, who seems just right. But when Emily follows Ben home to Italy, she learns that his family is another matter…

Emily Price—fix-it girl extraordinaire and would-be artist—dreams of having a gallery show of her own. There is no time for distractions, especially not the ultimate distraction of falling in love.

But Chef Benito Vassallo’s relentless pursuit proves hard to resist. Visiting from Italy, Ben works to breathe new life into his aunt and uncle’s faded restaurant, Piccollo. Soon after their first meeting, he works to win Emily as well—inviting her into his world and into his heart.

Emily astonishes everyone when she accepts Ben’s proposal and follows him home. But instead of allowing the land, culture, and people of Monterello to transform her, Emily interferes with everyone and everything around her, alienating Ben’s tightly knit family. Only Ben’s father, Lucio, gives Emily the understanding she needs to lay down her guard. Soon, Emily’s life and art begin to blossom, and Italy’s beauty and rhythm take hold of her spirit.

Yet when she unearths long-buried family secrets, Emily wonders if she really fits into Ben’s world. Will the joys of Italy become just a memory, or will Emily share in the freedom and grace that her life with Ben has shown her are possible?

 

A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay is the second book I have ever read by her, the first being Dear Mr. Knightly. Both are stand-alone novels, and both are by far some of my favorite contemporary fiction novels of all time. Katherine just has a way of writing endearing, heart-wrenching stories that are so REAL. She pulls you in and makes you feel like you are transported into the world of her characters, and I really felt like I could FEEL what Emily and Ben were going through. There was so much emotion in this novel, honestly I cried through quite a bit of it, but I LOVE those kinds of novels.

First of all, I have to admit, that I am totally obsessed with Italy and all things Italian now. Like, where can I find a private jet and a free trip to Italy? Because I’d be on that plane in a second. Katherine describes Italy in such a way that I really felt like I was right there, and when I finally looked up from by book I was very disappointed to find that I was not actually in a little Italian villa. I still really wish I was, honestly. Also, I must admit that now I am dying to read the rest of her novels even more, because I loved this book even more than the first one I read by her. Now I have to finish the rest! My only problem is that there aren’t enough, I am very much looking forward to finding out when she will finally be releasing more novels.

Emily and Ben—and even Joseph—had such wonderful stories, with heartbreak and emotion and real pain and sorrow, but also with love and new beginnings, that captivated me all the way until the very end. I wanted to know the truth behind all of their secrets, I was dying to see how they would find their redemption, and how the story would end. Each one had their own demons they were dealing with, and I love the way that Katherine resolved them all. I honestly devoured this book, I read almost the entire story in one sitting, because I just couldn’t put it down. I had to get to those resolutions. I had to know how the story would end. And, there was absolutely nothing in this book that would make me want to put it down, it really was one of the most perfect stories I have ever read.

Therefore, I can happily give this novel all five bookshelves, and a place on my all-time favorites list. I highly recommend this book, and any of the other stories Katherine has written—my sister has been reading them as well and right now Lizzy and Jane is her current favorite, so I highly recommend that one too. I will be reading it myself soon hopefully, so I’ll let you know what I think. Anyway, I really loved this book and I am sure you will too, so go check it out!

Happy reading!

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Katherine Reay and Thomas Nelson publishing.