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Home To Italy
In this delightful, moving novel, Peter Pezzelli brings to life the earthy sensuality of Italy's Abruzzo region- the smell of just-baked bread wafting through the village piazza; the shopkeepers sweeping the sidewalks first thing in the morning; groups of cyclists dotting the mountain roads-and spins a story of May-December romance as sharp and delicious as the olives of Villa San Giuseppe...
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO FIND YOUR WAY HOME.
After the death of his beloved wife, Anna, Peppi's family and friends expect him to bury his grief by tending to his gardens and taking long rides on his bike. Instead, Peppi shocks them all with his decision to leave Rhode Island and return to Villa San Giuseppe, the small Italian village where he spent his childhood, and to il mulino, his family's old mill. But once he's back, he temporarily moves into an apartment over the candy factory run by his childhood best friend, Luca. It is modest, but livable, with a lovely view of Luca's neglected gardens and his equally neglected daughter, the fiery Lucrezia.
More a force of nature than a woman, Lucrezia's legendary temper and workaholic schedule hide the very real pain she feels over her husband's death years before. At first, she tolerates Peppi as an eccentric annoyance-her father's strange but handsome American friend who fixes things around the factory and is bringing the gardens back to life. But soon, Lucrezia's interest in Peppi deepens. Like a high wind, the gossip is flying through Villa San Giuseppe-Lucrezia's making it to dinner on time. She's eating olives from a man's hand. She's wearing heels. Now, under the Italian sun, a tentative romance begins to bloom between the grieving pair, yielding to a surprisingly strong passion with the power to heal life's wounds and promise second chances...
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO FIND YOUR WAY HOME.
After the death of his beloved wife, Anna, Peppi's family and friends expect him to bury his grief by tending to his gardens and taking long rides on his bike. Instead, Peppi shocks them all with his decision to leave Rhode Island and return to Villa San Giuseppe, the small Italian village where he spent his childhood, and to il mulino, his family's old mill. But once he's back, he temporarily moves into an apartment over the candy factory run by his childhood best friend, Luca. It is modest, but livable, with a lovely view of Luca's neglected gardens and his equally neglected daughter, the fiery Lucrezia.
More a force of nature than a woman, Lucrezia's legendary temper and workaholic schedule hide the very real pain she feels over her husband's death years before. At first, she tolerates Peppi as an eccentric annoyance-her father's strange but handsome American friend who fixes things around the factory and is bringing the gardens back to life. But soon, Lucrezia's interest in Peppi deepens. Like a high wind, the gossip is flying through Villa San Giuseppe-Lucrezia's making it to dinner on time. She's eating olives from a man's hand. She's wearing heels. Now, under the Italian sun, a tentative romance begins to bloom between the grieving pair, yielding to a surprisingly strong passion with the power to heal life's wounds and promise second chances...
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
203 people are currently reading
836 people want to read
About the author
Peter Pezzelli
26 books65 followersPeter Pezzelli was born and raised in Rhode Island. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he lives with his wife, two children and their dog in Rhode Island where, most days, he is busy at work at his next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
October 15, 2021
It was a sappy romantic story but a fun read.
I enjoyed the characters and the beautiful setting in Italy.
Ciao, Peppi!
I enjoyed the characters and the beautiful setting in Italy.
Ciao, Peppi!
May 6, 2022
Charming, humorous and full of family & friends, “Home to Italy” is a literary hug.
Peppi and Lucretia are involved in a May - December romance, whether they think so or not. Author, Peter Pezzelli, has done a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters and developing the tiny village of San Giuseppi, Italy. They are healing from the loss of their respective spouses and grow a resistant but purposeful love for each other.
Pezzelli’s prose is lyrical and I fully enjoyed my visit to Italy thru his words. This story is familiar in content and unique in its gentle nature; no foul language, gratuitous sexual content or violence.
“Home to Italy” is a deep breath of abiding contentment📚
Peppi and Lucretia are involved in a May - December romance, whether they think so or not. Author, Peter Pezzelli, has done a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters and developing the tiny village of San Giuseppi, Italy. They are healing from the loss of their respective spouses and grow a resistant but purposeful love for each other.
Pezzelli’s prose is lyrical and I fully enjoyed my visit to Italy thru his words. This story is familiar in content and unique in its gentle nature; no foul language, gratuitous sexual content or violence.
“Home to Italy” is a deep breath of abiding contentment📚
February 24, 2017
"His life, he marvelled, had come full circle, like a wheel spinning around, always ending at the beginning, always beginning at the end. That, he saw, was just the way of things."
Such a beautiful, light story about life and love. Really enjoyed it. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy from the inside.
Someone really wants to go to Italy now, haha. :)
Such a beautiful, light story about life and love. Really enjoyed it. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy from the inside.
Someone really wants to go to Italy now, haha. :)
September 23, 2018
A sappy, predictable book with poor character development. Perfect fodder for a Lifetime Channel movie.
September 20, 2010
Free Kindle download.
I loved this book. The author is new to me, and the story started off sad, with a funeral. Peppi has just lost his wife to a stroke, and his wife's family is consoling him in any way that they can. He himself has no family because he and his wife were never able to have kids, and the house seems really big and empty now that he's alone. He's still pretty active; he does his landscaping and his cycling, but he starts thinking about the small village in Italy where he grew up and the childhood friends that he left behind when he moved to America, and eventually he makes plans to go back to his ancestral home. His wife's family and his friends at the barber shop are surprised and dismayed when he tells them his decision, but he's made up his mind, and back he goes.
Thus begins Peppi's new cycle in life, and the unfolding of the story was leisurely and scenic. I realize now (belatedly!) how it all ties in with his love for the sport of cycling; when you cycle, you sometimes go uphill and other times go downhill, but at whatever speed you go, you're surrounded by the beauty of life. That's pretty much how this story unfolds, like the reader has gone cycling with the main character, on roads he's travelled once before, so long ago. There's a feeling of familiarity, but at the same time, everything is new again.
There's a passage deep in the book, some time after Peppi walks among the ruins of his childhood home and finds an old photo in an oval frame, where a couple of factory workers speak somewhat philosophically about Peppi's find — how the end of one thing is the beginning of another — and one of them even points out the circular shape of the frame, illustrating that there is no end and no beginning; it's all just one big cycle. So the end of Peppi's wife Anna's life becomes a beginning to this tale, where Peppi gets another chance at doing it all again — fixing, building, gardening, cycling, living, eating, enjoying, and falling in love.
And it's just all so beautifully done. I loved the characters. I loved the setting. I loved the story. I loved everything about this sweet, life-affirming little book. Long after I finished the novel, I wanted to keep reading it and continue the ride, see this new beginning through to its proper end. And though I started the book feeling sad for Peppi's loss, I finished the book feeling very content.
Downloaded May 30, 2010. Read September 18, 2010.
I loved this book. The author is new to me, and the story started off sad, with a funeral. Peppi has just lost his wife to a stroke, and his wife's family is consoling him in any way that they can. He himself has no family because he and his wife were never able to have kids, and the house seems really big and empty now that he's alone. He's still pretty active; he does his landscaping and his cycling, but he starts thinking about the small village in Italy where he grew up and the childhood friends that he left behind when he moved to America, and eventually he makes plans to go back to his ancestral home. His wife's family and his friends at the barber shop are surprised and dismayed when he tells them his decision, but he's made up his mind, and back he goes.
Thus begins Peppi's new cycle in life, and the unfolding of the story was leisurely and scenic. I realize now (belatedly!) how it all ties in with his love for the sport of cycling; when you cycle, you sometimes go uphill and other times go downhill, but at whatever speed you go, you're surrounded by the beauty of life. That's pretty much how this story unfolds, like the reader has gone cycling with the main character, on roads he's travelled once before, so long ago. There's a feeling of familiarity, but at the same time, everything is new again.
There's a passage deep in the book, some time after Peppi walks among the ruins of his childhood home and finds an old photo in an oval frame, where a couple of factory workers speak somewhat philosophically about Peppi's find — how the end of one thing is the beginning of another — and one of them even points out the circular shape of the frame, illustrating that there is no end and no beginning; it's all just one big cycle. So the end of Peppi's wife Anna's life becomes a beginning to this tale, where Peppi gets another chance at doing it all again — fixing, building, gardening, cycling, living, eating, enjoying, and falling in love.
And it's just all so beautifully done. I loved the characters. I loved the setting. I loved the story. I loved everything about this sweet, life-affirming little book. Long after I finished the novel, I wanted to keep reading it and continue the ride, see this new beginning through to its proper end. And though I started the book feeling sad for Peppi's loss, I finished the book feeling very content.
Downloaded May 30, 2010. Read September 18, 2010.
November 30, 2018
(...sigh...) I so wanted to like this more than I did. A late life romance, our story begins with Peppi Peppino grieving the death of his wife Anna at their Rhode Island home of many years. His grief leads him to return to Italy after so many years away, to his old hometown. There he re-engages with old friends, and finds new love. Sounds great, misses the mark. It’s sappy, sentimental, and never goes beneath the veneer of human depth. All those reviewer words like “heart-warming,” “pleasing,” and the like sprinkled about the covers are sorta true, but you can find much better life-affirming and thought-provoking stories than this...nothing objectionable, but nothing engaging either.
October 22, 2012
Much to my surprise, this is the first of Peter Pezelli's books but was just republished. He has a gift for capturing the Italian family, culture and landscape so much that I went out and bought olives while reading it! This is a sweet story of Peppi, a middle-aged widower and cyclist who leaves his family in Rhode Island to go to the home of his birth in Abruzzi to die. Instead, it is where he begins to create a new "circle of life" and to live and love again. All of this author's books are totally engaging, especially, "Francesca's Kitchen" and "Every Sunday."
April 29, 2015
A sweet, predictable story. Well told
May 1, 2019
I felt like this book was more of a 2.5 rather than a 3, and for various reasons. Firstly, I found that the love story between Peppi and Lucrezia was much too fake for my likeness. A friend of Lucrezia's father, whom she has never met, ends up being the love of her life, after she loses her husband in a car accident years earlier. I just didn't feel the love between the two of them, and was appalled that a woman of Lucrezia's age would be attracted to a man of Peppi's age. Secondly, the clichés that the author uses throughout the book are all too predictable, which made me roll my eyes during a variety of situations. I felt as though with every turn of the page, I knew what was to come, and was not excited to see what would happen next. Finally, I felt that all of the plot lines that occurred throughout this book happened much too quickly. Peppi lost his beloved wife, then flies to Italy, sees his dear friend, Luca, and falls in love with Luca's daughter. They start a life together, get married, and have a child, all happening in under 200 pages! I just couldn't enjoy any of the plot lines, since they happened so quickly, leaving us as readers to wish the author would just slow down, and allow us to enjoy what had happened! In all honesty, this wasn't my favourite of Peter's books, and I wouldn't be interested in reading it again in the future.
March 16, 2022
This is what happens when you pick up a book from a free pile *without reading the back* and then said book is the only bit of fiction you have in the house when you are stuck sick at home. Had I read the back, I would have gotten the whole darn plot.
The book is light on character development and believably. Most of the book is boring and then it turns ridiculous. Suddenly there's a car on fire and near death escape and the old widow falls in love with the very unlikable daughter of his best friend who of course, falls in love with him too. They're married within a month, their romance made me cringe. Yuck. No. I really wished I stopped reading this when I saw where it was going.
The book is light on character development and believably. Most of the book is boring and then it turns ridiculous. Suddenly there's a car on fire and near death escape and the old widow falls in love with the very unlikable daughter of his best friend who of course, falls in love with him too. They're married within a month, their romance made me cringe. Yuck. No. I really wished I stopped reading this when I saw where it was going.
February 29, 2020
Great, sweetness and light are all a part of Pezzelli's story, Home to Italy. As his debut novel, what's not to like? Many short Italian phases like Ciao, Bello are good to know and plentiful as life unfolds for our main character in Rhode Island and in the central mountains of Italy. Great respect and love are the best ingredients for these friends and family.
July 8, 2018
Really charming, descriptive, uplifting book about finding your way through grief. I enjoyed the middle-aged male perspective on daily life. Looking forward to his next book in the series. Glad I found another RI author I look forward to following.
June 17, 2008
I read this book, because I really liked reading "Francesca's Kitchen" (which was also by Pezzelli). However, this book was not nearly as good as Francesca's kitchen.
This is a story about an older man named Peppi, whose life is turned upsided down when his wife dies. Peppi and his wife lived in America, and Peppi decides to return to Italy (his childhood home) after he loses his wife.
The story follows Peppi as he goes to Italy, finds his childhood home destroyed, and reunites with his friend Luca.
He winds up getting romantically involved with Luca's daughter... and this is the part that I thought was not logical.
It was an ok book, but I was disappointed after reading his other novel.
This is a story about an older man named Peppi, whose life is turned upsided down when his wife dies. Peppi and his wife lived in America, and Peppi decides to return to Italy (his childhood home) after he loses his wife.
The story follows Peppi as he goes to Italy, finds his childhood home destroyed, and reunites with his friend Luca.
He winds up getting romantically involved with Luca's daughter... and this is the part that I thought was not logical.
It was an ok book, but I was disappointed after reading his other novel.
Read
August 28, 2010So I bought this because of the title for our trip to Italy. OMG! What a cheesy book. First there was the liberal sprinkling of Italian and the dialog that made me feel like I was watching the Sopranos. Then there was the whole cycling aspect---fine, I could live with that, but when the "hero" gets the hot, young Italian girl that is less than half his age...That was the last straw.
Not worth the cheap price I got it on Amazon for.
Not worth the cheap price I got it on Amazon for.
March 1, 2010
This was story of a man who lost his wife after years in States and decided to return to small Italian town of his birth. He fell in love with much younger widow (who was a b....) who was his friend's dau and managed a plant. It was ok.
September 24, 2019
Ugh! I really didn’t like this book. It’s an old man’s fantasy. He marries his best friend’s daughter? The premise of the book is that he’s grieving the loss of his wife, but he doesn’t seem to give her a second thought in the end.
Why is it so hard to find a good book set in Italy?
Why is it so hard to find a good book set in Italy?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2010
Very light - wasn't a huge fan of the whole bicycle thing.
July 31, 2022
This is a lovely, easy read and feel-good book. The perfect read for anyone seeking an escape to the Italian countryside. It is a story about the trials and tribulations of life. Marriage, love, work, friends and family. Sometimes death and tragedy. It is about new beginnings and starting over. Grief settles heavily over Peppino, our main character, an immigrant living in America. We have an immediate empathy for him. After the death of his beloved wife, Anna, he decides to return to the family ‘mulino’ in Villa San Giuseppe, a small village in the Abruzzi mountains near Sulmona, a place where he was born and spent his formative years.
An important thread running through the book is Peppi’s passion for cycling. From being a boy in Italy he had loved to race on his bicycle with his best friend Luca and other cycling enthusiasts in a group. Together, they had won many races. Once we fast forward the years in between, Luca still cycles but is no longer the leader of the group.
For anyone who likes Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, this book has the same evocative landscapes, colourful characters and a strong message that when tragedy, heartbreak or misfortune strikes, we must have the strength of resolve, like Peppi to get moving again in a positive direction. To spend time with people you care about and do things that make you feel better.
Peter Pezzelli captures the essence of Italian family life which is so charming and alluring. This is the foundation stone of Italian culture and is characterized by loyalty and closeness. Italian cultural traditions place the highest priority on the family
An important thread running through the book is Peppi’s passion for cycling. From being a boy in Italy he had loved to race on his bicycle with his best friend Luca and other cycling enthusiasts in a group. Together, they had won many races. Once we fast forward the years in between, Luca still cycles but is no longer the leader of the group.
For anyone who likes Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, this book has the same evocative landscapes, colourful characters and a strong message that when tragedy, heartbreak or misfortune strikes, we must have the strength of resolve, like Peppi to get moving again in a positive direction. To spend time with people you care about and do things that make you feel better.
Peter Pezzelli captures the essence of Italian family life which is so charming and alluring. This is the foundation stone of Italian culture and is characterized by loyalty and closeness. Italian cultural traditions place the highest priority on the family
March 11, 2018
It's not often that I see "Pezze" as the first five letters in a name - but when I saw this author's last name, I just knew I had to spend the $1. Seeing as how the those five letters are the same five letters of my maiden name and the book is set in Italy (I'm 100% Italian), it was a good choice. Peppi loses his wife of more than forty years and wonders what he should do for the remaining chapters of his life. Stay in the house they shared? Nope. Instead he decides to return home to Italy and live in the home his parents left him. The story then follows Peppi as he rekindles friendships and creates new ones, leaving behind his life in America. Of course, there's some romance, too. A little predictable, but a fun story of what it means to turn over a new leaf and see what adventures await you when you keep an open mind and heart. This quote sums it up well: "You can't pick the people you fall in love with any more than you can pick your father or mother. Life just sorts it all out for you whether you like it or not."
May 23, 2022
(Spoiler included in review.) How do I write this? I loved this book. I did. Really did. Until the end. As someone who is childless not by choice it was wonderful to read a love story about characters who managed the pain of not having had kids and could look forward to the future while sitting in the pain of the past. Not all of us get rainbow babies (1 in 8 of us, in fact) and many more of us (1 in 4) lose a baby in miscarriage, so to see yet another book go down the "happily ever after" path because a baby is conceived and born, seemed like a weak ending and easy out for the author. Why could it not have been enough for them to find love? So, other than the end, great book. But if you at all have struggled with infertility, miscarriage, or peri-natal loss, skip the end.
September 8, 2018
I picked this book up from a little free library, I hardly ever red these sort of books. What do I mean by that? Books that you know from the first chapter exactly what is going to happen. This is a book like that. Peppi's wife dies after a long and beautiful marriage and Peppi decides to return to his hometown in Italy to spend the rest of his life. So guess what happens?
I can see the appeal in these books, they are just feel good books. The dialog is chatty, the description is lush but not too long. And there is always a happy ending. A fun little diversion, in the wake of my constant search for good YA books.
I can see the appeal in these books, they are just feel good books. The dialog is chatty, the description is lush but not too long. And there is always a happy ending. A fun little diversion, in the wake of my constant search for good YA books.
December 1, 2021
Interesting story
Home to Italy follows the story of a man who moved to the USA from Italy and then returned to Italy many years later. We follow him as he gets reacquainted to his old home area, and his friends, and starts to rebuild a new life. Along the way he becomes intrigued by the daughter of one of his friends, and we follow the growing relationship between them. This is a good, easy read story, a human interest story, and a view of Italian life. I recommend it. Enjoy the diversion from today's stresses and anxiety.
Home to Italy follows the story of a man who moved to the USA from Italy and then returned to Italy many years later. We follow him as he gets reacquainted to his old home area, and his friends, and starts to rebuild a new life. Along the way he becomes intrigued by the daughter of one of his friends, and we follow the growing relationship between them. This is a good, easy read story, a human interest story, and a view of Italian life. I recommend it. Enjoy the diversion from today's stresses and anxiety.
May 25, 2022
I don’t particularly like this kind of narrative writing but this was a sweet nice story. Most of the book was set in Italy. I loved reading about the biking Peppi did through the country. Of course the Italian cooking and love of families was so nice. It was a sweet love story of two broken people.
February 24, 2025
The idea for the story was cute, but how it was written was very monotone. There was no true direction of this story. It was nice to read about an older man venture back to his hometown of Italy and begin a new chapter of his life after losing his life, but how it went about was odd. Cute, easy read regardless.
August 6, 2017
Fast fun read, especially if you've ever been to Italy. I was just there and enjoyed returning through this book. I also loved that the main character was an active and fit senior citizen. As a fellow senior, I love finding stories with characters still enjoying life in their 60s and 70s.
July 25, 2018
After losing his wife Peppi goes back to where he grew up to find it destroyed, but makes lemonade out of lemons as it turns into a love story with a woman half his age that lost her husband. It's well written, flows nice. No big surprises, you can definitely see it coming.
August 8, 2020
Sweet and lovely
Party of the joy of this book is the depictions of Italy . The author truly captures the beauty and feeling if this glorious country.
The story itself is simple and charming and in this world right now, incredibly soothing.
Party of the joy of this book is the depictions of Italy . The author truly captures the beauty and feeling if this glorious country.
The story itself is simple and charming and in this world right now, incredibly soothing.
October 4, 2020
Overall an easy fun read. The descriptions of Italy were great. BUT the story line with disappointingly predictable, including a “nearly died” moment of revelation. Read for the food and Italian life, not the characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2021
Pezzelli has an engaging way of writing about everyday people. Although a romance is central to the story, it is not an obsession of the characters. I like how no one bats an eyelash at the nature of the couple.
July 20, 2021
This is a simple and sweet story. It takes time to account for the cycles of life and the goodness available to us even though we all face pain and loss. There are vine ripening tomatoes and delicious dinner scenes and satisfying old friendships and there is love and pasta and new life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews