Lead Review

• Book: Only You
• Location: England, Rome
• Author: Kate Eberlen

Review Author: tripfiction

3.5*

This is the story of the burgeoning romance between Alf and Letty, who happen upon each other in an Italian class in Rome. It turns out that both have a dancing background which they discover when they naturally fall into rhythmic steps on the Piazza Navona. How romantic is that! Alf was the Junior Ballroom and Latin Champion and Letty was a perfectionist ballerina who, unfortunately, snapped her cruciate ligament and her ballet moves never recovered sufficiently for her to continue in the profession. He has only recently left school after A Levels and she is taking a little time out from her Classics studies at Oxford.

The novel is divided into three parts and the first part – set in 2018 – charts the tentative first steps of love. The prose is delightful and there is sunshine in the writing, with a nicely constructed narrative. It is, in fact, polished writing and storytelling. It is also stunning for armchair travel to Rome, whether it is dining in a trattoria, following the well trodden path of the Via Appia, passing by the Circus Maximus or wandering up to the Palatine. The author charts insights into Italian life (the Italians always drink beer with pizza and only tourists would order a Cappuccino after midday – don’t be that person! Or that Prince Charming in Italian is the Blue Prince. Who knew?…). It is clear the author is invested in the story and delights in the sense of place, hinting, though at darker backgrounds for both Letty and Alf.

Part Two dials back 18 months to explore these backgrounds, looking at their individual encounters and how they eventually come to be in Rome. It is a bit of a mash-up between An Education / The Graduate / Pretty Woman. It paints Alf as a great ballroom dance teacher (he hales from a family of ballroom dancers), but who is a bit of a hapless liar, who starts a relationship with Gina, with whom he comes to Rome all those months later. Letty finds herself entangled with Spencer, an older, rich man; she also faces some personal demons. The setting moves away from Rome, to Oxford, London and Blackpool with a quick trip to New York thrown in.

Part three is a helter skelter ride to the finish line.

It is almost as though one writer beautifully penned Part One; and, then, a second, different hand took over and authored Parts Two and Three. Part One set the bar high and I was delighted to be part of the poignant Letty/Alf story, I loved my immersive ‘trip’ to the author’s well-researched city, and revelled in the warmth of the story. I then felt the ‘other’ author in Parts Two/Three had chosen her ending and was intent on getting her characters to the pre-ordained conclusion, at whatever cost. That cost for me was rather high. Parts Two/Three were like una insalata mista sprinkled with a multitude of big, life-changing themes, that, to my mind, needed a firmer editing hand. There is a lot of buzz around this novel, so do pick up a copy and judge for yourself!

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