The Little Theatre by the Sea, published March 2017, written by Rosanna Ley is a fictional novel. A recently graduated, mature student of interior design, Faye, receives an intriguing invitation, from an old college friend Charlotte, to spend a month in Sardinia house-sitting and the opportunity to undertake her first interior design project, a little theatre in Deriu. Faye excitedly accepts whilst ignoring a niggling feeling of apprehension and so the novel begins.
I originally chose this book, in a rush, at the airport as I needed a holiday read - and upon scanning the blurb and seeing the words 'sunny Sardinia' I felt a sense of serendipity (seeing as I was flying there in just 50 minutes). Despite not being what I wanted, which was a non-fictional account of someone's travel experiences, I bit the bullet and
headed to the self-checkout tills; and, I'm glad I did.
Without spoiling too much, the plot revolves around the little town of Deriu which is seemingly cloaked in mystery, Faye's grit and determination to do justice for the theatre so wound up in her heart undoubtedly causes some trouble. The two siblings, who claim ownership of the theatre and pay Faye's wages, Marisa and Alessandro Rinaldi are seemingly elusive and suspicious, which is yet another challenge for Faye. Faye's parents, back at home in West Dorset, are facing some issues of their own which unbeknownst to them are inextricably linked to Deriu and make Faye's mammoth task all the more trying.
Upon reading, I expected a straight through and through romance novel that was altogether a bit cheesy for me but found myself unable to leave this book alone as each chapter passed. This book seamlessly navigates many genres such as romance, mystery and drama to name a few whilst handling mature themes and difficult topics with dignity and stark honesty. Ley's writing graciously switches from one setting and one tone to another through the use of semantics and lexicon that give the parallel storylines a sense of urgency and intrigue. Another praise-worthy feat is how flawlessly the topics in this book were researched and how Ley truly captures the essence of Sardinia, from it's idyllic scenery to small town attitudes.
After completing this book and flipping the final page I felt a massive appreciation for how much love and hard work
this novel had taken; it is evident in every character, every plot line and the tiniest details that could make or break this book. The only issue I found, and this may be personal preference, was that towards the end there was a loss of momentum as the plot line peaked too early and left chapters 43-46 to round up loose ends, yet this could have been done in one final chapter. That being said, I was still left wanting more and found myself continuing a final story in my own imagination.
This book is a great holiday read, relatively light and easy going yet intriguing and very well written. You'll be pleasantly surprised as the story runs its course and if you aren't already in Sardinia, this book will give you and inkling to go and explore yourself. Priced on Amazon at £7.99, paperback, and available in WHsmiths also; this is a 5-10 day read if you're fully absorbed!