An electrifying New York Times bestselling novel about marriage and deceit that follows two couples on vacation in Siracusa, a town on the coast of Sicily, where the secrets they have hidden from one another are exposed and relationships are unraveled. With her inimitable psychological astuteness and uncanny understanding of the human heart, Ephron delivers a powerful meditation on marriage, … meditation on marriage, friendship, and the meaning of travel. Set on the sun-drenched coast of the Ionian Sea, Siracusa unfolds with the pacing of a psychological thriller and delivers an unexpected final act that none will see coming.
One of People Magazine’s Top 10 Books • A Washington Post Bestseller • A Los Angeles Times Bestseller • A USA Today Bestseller • One of Vulture’s 100 Greatest Beach Books Ever • A People Magazine Summer Reading Pick • One of Elle, InStyle, and Marie Claire’s Best of July • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 (Fiction)
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Siracusa is so good! This is the first book I’ve read in awhile that I had a really hard time putting down as soon as I started reading. My mom @carrolldonelan read it because our cousin John Slattery and his wife narrate the audiobook (which I haven’t listened to, so if someone else does, please tell me how it is). But seriously this book is great!
Told in alternating points of view, the story is about two couples that go on vacation together in Italy. There’s a fifth character, one couple’s ten-year-old daughter, Snow, who also plays a major role. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot about the complex nature of each marriage, but there’s also a dark undercurrent of impending disaster that creates a sense of mystery and tension that pushes the story forward in a really exciting way. I could see this book making a movie.
The novel is told in four voices so an audiobook was a terrific way to ‘read’ the book. Talia Balsam, Katie Finneran, Darren Goldstein, and John Slattery were the readers. They did a great job! Each character was distinct in personality.
Two couples take a joint vacation trip to Italy including Siracusa. New Yorkers Michael (a Pulitzer-winning playwright) and Lizzie (a magazine writer) and Taylor and Finn, Lizzie’s ex-boyfriend who runs a restaurant in Portland, Maine, and their beautiful and strange daughter Snow.
The relationships are revealed to all be troubled. Taylor has boundary issues with her daughter and has frozen Finn out. Michael is a natural charmer (and womanizer) whose attention to Snow results in a crush. Lizzie loves Michael but feels he is married to his work.
Creepy! Addictive! And I had to laugh out loud as these characters reveal their pettiness and limited self-understanding and lack of understanding of their partners. The foreshadowing was quite strong and we had a hunch about the ending, which turned out to be on target and quite shocking.
But what a perfect book for an eight-hour car trip across back country roads and expressways in November. It was entertaining and had us discussing the characters and plot.
The fact that I’d recently visited Siracusa, Italy (and I love suspense/thrillers) led me to read this book, which was recommended by a friend. I expected to revisit some places I’d loved, but more than that, I was delighted by the deeply developed characters, unique points of view, and a complex plot. Don’t want to give away any spoilers, but even though I suspected one character in particular, I was still delighted at the twist at the end. Highly recommended!
Perfect light summer read.
I thought the book was an ok quick read. The positive was the setting of the book. The negative was that All the characters are unappealing, I did not care what happened to them.
I personally wish it would have ended differently, as I kind of saw that coming from the beginning.
I didn’t really like having four different narrators. Made it feel disjointed. Story was okay but ending felt too unlikely.
I was not thrilled with this book. Fairly predictable and there were no characters to like. Very tedious at times
Great writing. Makes you turn a mirror on friendships and relationships. Some twists you can’t guess.
Ephron has a particular lead character, one that simultaneously smart, insecure about being smart and in love with her own fantasy of what her life is that she can’t see the obvious. That character is in here, but Ephron stretches to switch points of view and does so successfully. The fact that the reader can see the outcome in the distance doesn’t take away from the interest in the characters missing it.
The characters are dynamic and interesting.
I really enjoyed this book. Delia Ephron masterfully builds her characters, including some who are deeply unlikeable (and deluded), and she develops the story through the voices of the four main characters. We know from the outset that the trip to Siracusa is met with disasterous results, but the descent into chaos is subtle and (mostly) psychological. I think my favorite part is that Ephron maintains the realism inherent in the character’s relationships, even when it is uncomfortable.
Excellent study in perspective
Thoroughly predictable. Passable beach reading.
An easy read , very entertaining
If you want to read about rich people whining, this is the book do you
Not much
NONE of the adults in this book are stereotypes; in face they
test our idealism. The child is worse…