Love Falls-Esther Freud

Love Falls
Esther Freud
Harper, Dec 2007, $13.95
ISBN: 9780061349614

Seventeen years old Lara accompanied her mother as they toured the Far East together. Back at home in England, her dad Lambert invites her to come with him to Italy.

Though a bit nervous as she has spent little time with dad, Lara jumps at the opportunity to spend time with her father as Lambert is a bit of a hermit. They spend the summer together in a Tuscan villa whose neighbors include a family of British millionaires with one Kip Willoughby being cute and her age. As Kip and Lara spend time together, she flirts outrageously with him until she begins to hear rumors that he is her half-brother. Did her father as an act of vengeance sire the lad to get back at his grandfather for deserting Lamb’s parents during WWII in Germany? Or is just inane gossip?

When the story line focuses on Lara, the audience receives a deep fascinating character study as readers see her dad, her mom, the boy next door and others through her eyes. When the tale centers on Kip’s parentage, it loses steam as it veers into overly melodramatic. Still following the escapades of the teen heroine is a charmer that will send the audience seeking other works from Esther Freud (see HIDEOUS KINKY; not read by this reviewer).

Harriet Klausner