58 pages • 1-hour read
One Italian Summer
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Symbols & Motifs
Positano
The majority of the novel takes place in Positano, Italy, which symbolizes opportunity for many of the characters. According to Marco, the city “is a good place to let life return to you” (49), and the characters utilize its beauty and serenity to further their own situations in life depending on their needs.
Positano represents a clean slate for Katy Silver and other characters like Adam Westbrooke and Carol Silver because of the way Serle portrays its unique temporality. The city provides an opportunity to explore one’s desires and needs as these characters attempt to reconcile with their past and move toward the future. The timelessness of the city, which aids in Katy’s inability to realize that she has traveled back to 1992, creates a peaceful, liminal space that promotes development for its inhabitants. Serle depicts that “[m]orning in Positano is reminiscent of the evening” (37). Not only is the architecture timeless, but time also flows in a magically cyclic way within the city. Katy seemingly travels back in time on her journey to Positano, and the descriptions of the city make this appear plausible in line with the conventions of fabulism. The city does not hold time constructs within its limits, allowing for characters, such as Katy, to truly have the space to develop.
With a landscape that remains untouched by time, the setting of Positano creates opportunities for these characters to remain physically suspended in time while also emotionally developing. For Katy and Carol, the city represents a way to discover their identities. Even further, the trip to Positano presents Katy with a unique opportunity to acquaint herself with a version of her mother that she never got to experience.
Food
Food is a motif that helps illustrate Katy’s self-discovery journey. Serle uses many images of food throughout the novel to highlight the importance of Italian cuisine not just within the culture but also its impact on individuals. During her mother’s illness, Katy did not desire to eat much, if at all. When her mother was dying, she says that “she had no interest in doing anything that would sustain [her] life anymore” (92). She considered her mom to be her lifeline, and as she watched Carol die, she did not feel the need to physically sustain her own life. Food began to taste like “cardboard,” and Katy did not desire to eat at all.
However, once Katy begins to develop her own sense of self, she begins to enjoy eating more, and she eats both to sustain herself and for satisfaction. As the novel progresses, Katy discovers that she is eating more and more every day that she is in Italy. When eating a dessert with Adam, Katy becomes so overjoyed with the chocolate and cream that she wants to “bathe” in it. In Naples, she describes the pizza as tasting like “heaven.” These simple images connect Katy to the food, which further implies her own deepening connection with herself. She emotionally heals from the death of her mother, and at the same time, she learns to love food again.
La Faraglioni
The Italian landmark makes an appearance in the novel several times, and the image symbolizes long-lasting love for any couple who kisses underneath its archway. The landmark itself is large and is a very prominent sight in Italy. Being part of an Italian legend, the famous landmark serves to immortalize Katy’s time on the Amalfi Coast, while also representing her developing love for herself.
At the end of the book, Antonio, the boat captain, tells Katy that the legend actually promises a love that will last “for always” and not just for 30 years. With this knowledge, she spreads Carol’s ashes with Eric underneath La Faraglioni. The landmark serves to immortalize both Katy and Carol’s journey of self-discovery in Italy. By spreading Carol’s ashes underneath the archway, Katy also immortalizes their love for each other. This reinforces the fact that Serle uses romantic language to discuss their relationship throughout the novel. Katy then recognizes that, even without her mom, she still has “so much life ahead to lead without her” (244). Since the legend promises a love that will last forever, the novel ends with the promise that Katy and Carol’s love will also transcend time.
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