Opening
Sixteen-year-old Lina Emerson lands in Florence to honor her mother Hadley Emerson’s last request: spend the summer with the man Lina has just learned is her father, Howard Mercer. But Howard lives and works on the grounds of an American military cemetery, turning Lina’s arrival into a collision of fresh loss and literal graves—a living metaphor for her Grief and Healing. As secrets surface and new connections spark, Lina’s summer begins to split open her past.
What Happens
Chapter 1
Howard picks Lina up from the airport and drives her through the Tuscan countryside—only to pull into the American cemetery where he is the caretaker. The neat white headstones stretch outside her bedroom window, making her new home feel like a permanent memorial to everything she’s lost. Inside the cheerful, carefully arranged house, Lina meets Howard’s colleague, Sonia, who quickly clarifies she isn’t Howard’s wife and reveals she was close with Hadley—one of many omissions that ignite the theme of Secrets and Truth.
At dinner, conversation over lasagna staggers and stalls. Before leaving, Sonia asks Lina to stop by the next day—she has something to give her. Later, Lina overhears Howard and Sonia on the porch. Howard calls Lina “really quiet,” and Sonia remembers Hadley’s “oomph.” The comparison stings. Surrounded by moonlit graves and strangers who knew her mother better than she did, Lina lies awake, wondering if she can keep the promise she made.
Chapter 2
Lina calls her best friend, Addie, the tether to her old life in Seattle. She unloads everything: Howard is her father, he lives in a cemetery, and she wants out. Addie validates Lina’s feelings and starts plotting an exit strategy, reinforcing that The Nature of Family can be chosen through loyalty and care, not just blood. They decide to appeal to Lina’s grandmother to bring her home, arguing that Lina promised her mom under false pretenses.
A soft knock interrupts: Howard brings fresh towels and lights up when Lina says she likes the room. The moment is gentle but brief. Lina locks the door after he leaves, aware of his effort yet unable to meet him halfway. They remain strangers bound by a subject neither is ready to confront.
Chapter 3
Two loud American tourists, Gloria and Hank, press their faces to the window at dawn, looking for Howard. Lina grudgingly guides them to the visitors’ center, where Howard introduces her as his daughter. Gloria’s offhand, “You two don’t look alike,” plants a seed of doubt Lina can’t shake.
Lina flees for a run beyond the cemetery gates and drinks in the golden hills—until a car of boys harasses her. She sprints back to the one place she wanted to escape. Furious and protective, Howard insists on taking her to Florence for dinner so they can “talk about things,” which Lina dreads. Sonia again mentions something of Hadley’s she wants to give Lina; Lina dodges, not ready for more emotional landmines.
Chapter 4
After wrestling with the temperamental Italian shower—where “C” stands for caldo (hot)—Lina is intercepted by Sonia, who has left a journal on Lina’s bed. It belonged to Hadley, written when she lived at the cemetery with Howard. Sonia says they seemed very much in love, which shocks Lina and deepens the central mystery of why Hadley left and why she kept so much from her daughter.
The journal is a direct line to Hadley’s voice, but Lina can’t bear to open it. Afraid of what she’ll find—and what it will cost—she hides it in her nightstand. She wants answers yet can’t face them, crystallizing her internal tug-of-war between knowing and protecting herself from more pain.
Chapter 5
Lina takes Sonia’s suggested trail behind the cemetery and meets Lorenzo "Ren" Ferrara, a half-American, half-Italian boy her age with easy confidence and quick humor. He already knows who she is—Howard has enrolled her in the local American international school, and news travels fast. Their playful banter cuts through Lina’s heaviness and sparks the possibility of Love and Romance.
Ren invites Lina to his home, a whimsical gingerbread-style house that radiates warmth. His Texan artist mom, Odette, and little sister swirl around in colorful chaos, offering Lina her first real breath of comfort in Italy. When Ren asks about her mom directly and without pity, Lina finds she can actually talk. Before she leaves, he scribbles his number on her hand and invites her to a party. For the first time, anticipation flickers—an early step toward Identity and Self-Discovery.
Key Events
- Lina arrives in Florence and learns Howard lives and works in a WWII cemetery.
- Sonia reveals she was close to Hadley and hints at a hidden past.
- Lina and Addie scheme to convince her grandmother to bring Lina home.
- Sonia gives Lina Hadley’s journal from the time Hadley lived in Italy.
- Lina meets Ren, whose lively family offers respite and a hopeful new connection.
Character Development
Lina’s world tilts from familiar grief into disorienting mystery. Every interaction—Howard’s awkward kindness, Sonia’s secrets, Ren’s openness—nudges her toward engagement with Italy and her mother’s past, even as she resists.
- Lina Emerson: Overwhelmed and guarded, she views Italy as punishment and fixates on escape. The journal tempts and terrifies her, while Ren’s kindness reawakens curiosity and the capacity for joy.
- Howard Mercer: Gentle, earnest, and unsure. He prepares Lina’s room, protects her after the harassment, and tries to open a conversation, but emotional distance and unspoken history mute his efforts.
- Lorenzo “Ren” Ferrara: A catalyst who offers levity, belonging, and a future-oriented gaze. He contrasts the cemetery’s weight with motion, humor, and connection.
- Sonia: Warm and steady, she bridges past and present. By entrusting Lina with the journal, she becomes the guardian of the story’s central truth.
Themes & Symbols
Grief and healing shape every scene. The cemetery externalizes Lina’s inner state: regimented, solemn, and inescapable. Yet the Tuscan hills and the Ferraras’ home counterbalance death with color, noise, and possibility, suggesting healing as an immersion back into life rather than an erasure of loss.
Secrets and truth drive the plot. Hadley’s omissions—Howard’s identity, their shared past, why it ended—linger over every exchange. The journal promises answers but demands vulnerability, positioning truth as both balm and blade. As Lina edges toward reading it, the novel frames self-knowledge as inseparable from confronting pain.
Symbols:
- The Cemetery: A landscape of memory that mirrors Lina’s isolation and entrapment. It both confines and, paradoxically, protects her when danger arises.
- Hadley’s Journal: A conduit to the past and a test of courage. It represents the cost of knowing and the intimacy of hearing the dead speak in their own words.
- The Gingerbread House: A foil to the cemetery—playful, alive, and communal. It embodies warmth, art, and chosen family.
Key Quotes
“An old friend.”
- Hadley’s vague label for Howard becomes the novel’s first red flag, announcing a story built on omissions. The phrasing frames Lina’s journey: dismantling euphemisms to find the truth underneath.
“She’s really quiet.” / “Hadley had oomph.”
- Overheard, this comparison isolates Lina and underscores how grief mutates personality. It also marks the gap between who Hadley was to others and who Lina is allowed to be right now.
“Talk about things.”
- Howard’s tentative invitation exposes his fear of saying the wrong words and the sheer weight of what they are not discussing. The euphemism highlights their stalemate and the urgency for candor.
“C stands for caldo.”
- The small cultural mix-up lightens tone while signaling Lina’s larger adjustment to Italy: understanding this place requires learning new systems—of language, family, and memory.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters set the novel’s engine in motion: Lina’s grief collides with a buried past, and the journal becomes the key that can unlock it. The settings do double duty—cemetery versus gingerbread house—as externalizations of death’s hold and life’s pull. The first-person voice keeps readers inside Lina’s raw humor and pain, balancing heaviness with warmth.
Introducing the journal establishes a dual-timeline mystery that will braid Hadley’s choices with Lina’s awakening. Ren’s arrival shifts the story’s energy toward connection and risk, suggesting that healing requires stepping beyond the gates—into conversation, community, and the complicated truths of love.