“I want you to stay with Howard. The year I spent in Italy meant so much to me, and I want you to have that same experience.”
There are occasions in the lives of most people that change everything. Very often, of course, the significance of these sentences is not recognized until long after they are spoken. Such is the case with the above quote. Lina Emerson, this novel’s narrator and protagonist, fails to grasp that these are words that are going to change her life. Because her mother’s cancer was declared incurable and inoperable not long before, Lina fully recognizes that the day these words are spoken is one that changes everything. The true significance of her mother’s request won’t hit home quite as hard for some time. For one thing, Lina has barely the slightest idea who Howard is, much less why she should be expected to greet her mother’s eventual demise by traveling to Italy. Needless to say, the eventual identification of Howard will prove to be a major moment in the narrative.
"I MADE THE WRONG CHOICE."
Lina does, of course, wind up going to Italy where she stays with the mysterious Howard in a somewhat creepy house overlooking a cemetery. She does learn Howard’s identity as well as the fact that one of the many journals her mother had filled over the course of her life is one that details that year she spent in Italy with Howard. She also learns that her mother had sent this particular journal to the cemetery shortly before she died. The first words in the journal were written across the inside of the front cover in thick black marker impossible to ignore, avoid, or casually overlook. Lina interprets this message that another person will describe simply as “ominous” as being a direct message sent by her mother to her across the expanse of time and mortality. Naturally, she is determined to get to the bottom of its cryptic meaning, whatever it may be.
"So…Italian gelato. Take the deliciousness of a regular ice-cream cone, times it by a million, then sprinkle it with crushed-up unicorn horns. Ren stopped me after my fourth scoop. I probably would have kept going forever."
Lina has literally just discovered the existence of Italian gelato earlier this very day. And already she is near the point of addiction. Later on in the story, another character will tell Lina that while people come to Italy for an infinite number of reasons, they all stay for the same two things: “Love and gelato.” Lina has come to Italy literally to honor her mother’s dying wishes. Once there, the identification of Howard and the major role he played in her mother’s life becomes the main driving engine of her experience. But, just like her mother had done all those years ago and proceeded to detail in her journal, Lina finds a reason to hang around having nothing to do with Howard. Or, for that matter, having almost nothing to do with gelato. Basically, she learns that the words of advice about why people stay in Italy are not entirely romanticized hyperbole.
