Meet Me in Milano by Mariuccia Milla

Episode 51 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast is a conversation with author Mariuccia Milla about her debut novel, Meet Me in Milano.  It is the first in a planned set of 5 novels that will intersect between locations and some characters, although they won't be a series per se.  This first book tells the stories of Jonathan and Melinda, a former couple who have both come to Milan for different reasons. Their social circles and lives begin to intersect in various ways throughout the book and both of them learn more about themselves through the communities in which they become involved.

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Meet Me in Milano is about a young architect who leaves her boyfriend and New York to look for a job and a new life in Milan, Italy. But her ex is not giving up so easily, and follows her there. The people they meet, the places they visit, and the things they learn about themselves during their separate adventures will bring you right there with them as they navigate the Milanese scene. The reader will meet successful and charming Milanese men like Alberto and Pierpaolo, the wise Lella, the beautiful Elena, and aspiring creative types who, like Melinda and Jonathan, have come to Milan to realize their dreams. Meet Me in Milano weaves Italian culture, food, language, and personalities into a delightful mosaic. Weekend trips for work and play in the beautiful Italian landscape provide deeper dives into the conflicts and opportunities that bring the characters together...or make them change direction. This is a book about the discovery of life and of self, through connection with place and other people. (Source)

I've never been to Milan, or even Italy, but Mariuccia does a really wonderful job of describing not only the places, but also the people and the culture.  This is a travel book in the sense that the 2 main characters move from New York to Italy for a period of time, but it's more than just a book that shows another place.  The reader truly gets to experience what it feels like to be a newcomer/outsider living in an unfamiliar place and learning to navigate the people, culture, traditions, and geography of that place. 

Melinda and Jonathan are young and still finding themselves.  Mariuccia presents them as fully human, with flaws and contradictions.  Melinda is both incredibly brave, and remarkably timid.  Jonathan tends to fix things and situations around him, but can't seem to fix certain aspects of his own life.  They are multi-dimensional characters, and I found myself both liking them and being frustrated by them in turns, pretty much like any relationship.

Genres:

• Travel
• Romance
• Urban Fiction

What I enjoyed:

• What Mariuccia calls "Italy porn."  Nothing in appropriate, just the things you expect from a book about Italy:  Food, beauty, art, architecture.
• Watching Melinda learn and evolve in a way that was relatable and human.
• The incredible variety of secondary characters who make up a rich tapestry of community which surrounds Jonathan and Melinda.

Who should read Meet Me in Milano?

• Fans of romance.
• Fans of books featuring travel.
• Anyone who wants to go to Italy or has already been and wants to relive some of that experience.
• Fans of risotto.  No really, there's a lot of risotto made and eaten in this book and it all sounds fantastic.  (also fans of gelato and cappuccino)  I was hungry for most of my reading.

Quotes:

• "A parade of dull gray bins marched through the black fettuccini curtains, loaded with shoes and phones and Clinique free gift sets  This was her limbo between New York and the rest of the world."
• "She was attracted to his pluck, thinking it might be contagious."
• "Italians have an expression, gallina vecchia fa buon brodo, old chickens make good broth."

Where you can find Mariuccia online:
Facebook: @mariumilla
Instagram: @mariumilla

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Mariuccia-Milla/e/B075XNJV1C/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Medium: @maryscipioni
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5818367.Mariuccia_Milla

Author Bio:

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Mariuccia Milla had a dream of going to Italy. After her first post-college job in New York City, she bought a one-way ticket and set out on her first adventure. Mariuccia stayed in Milan, where she worked in the field of architecture and interior design, for ten years. Afterward, she lived in Tuscany, and later near Lago Maggiore, before returning to the USA for graduate school after a total of eighteen years abroad.

Mariuccia is currently living in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, and plans to split her time between there and Italy.

Trained as a designer and a landscape architect, Mariuccia is particularly tuned in to the physical environment and how it influences people and their relationships.

To hear the interview with Mariuccia please click here.