A story about a close mother-daughter relationship and what happens after the mother dies, One Italian Summer begins when Katy’s mother dies and she wonders how she will go on living without her. Married and living in California, 30 year-old Katy was an only child and very close to her mother, Carol. They were best friends and spent a lot of time together. When Carol passes away, Katy decides to take the trip to Italy she had planned to take with her mother that they never got around to. Before she leaves, she tells her husband she may not want to be married to him anymore and flies off to Europe. Once there, she meets a young woman her age who IS her mother, Carol, as a younger woman. Not understanding quite how this is happening, Katy is overcome by seeing her mother again and finding out about her life pre-Katy. As she takes in the magical life of Italy, she is romanced by a visiting American and faced with how to move ahead in her life. Although the premise is hard to grasp, the questions it raises are entertaining. The end gets neatly tied together as Katy learns how to live without her mother and finds peace.
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