What This Theme Explores
The Nature of Family in Love & Gelato asks whether kinship is a matter of DNA or a commitment forged through presence, sacrifice, and care. It probes how grief can narrow our definition of family to blood and obligation, and how love can widen it to include those who choose us. The novel also examines how secrets within a lineage complicate identity, forcing characters to decide which bonds truly define them. Ultimately, it argues that family is an active verb—something made, not merely inherited.
How It Develops
At the outset, Lina Emerson equates family with loss and duty. After the death of her mother, Hadley Emerson, she honors a final request to live with Howard Mercer in Italy, approaching him as a task to complete rather than a person to love. Their early interactions feel transactional—shared space without shared history—revealing Lina’s belief that family is something you endure when blood demands it.
As Lina reads her mother’s journal and steps into the rhythms of Florence, the definition begins to expand. She finds practical, daily forms of care from Sonia, and ease and laughter with Lorenzo "Ren" Ferrara and his family. These relationships demonstrate that belonging is built through repeated acts of kindness and mutual reliance; the more Lina is fed, guided, and invited in, the more “family” becomes a network of chosen commitments rather than a ledger of biological ties.
The turning point arrives when Lina learns that Matteo Rossi—not Howard—is her biological father, and he rejects her outright. This revelation breaks the spell of genetics as destiny: blood offers neither safety nor loyalty. By choosing Howard, Lina asserts that love, not lineage, is the decisive force in defining family—and she consciously assembles a new constellation of people who have already acted like kin.
Key Examples
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Initial Reluctance and Obligation: Early on, Lina treats living with Howard as a promise to fulfill, not a relationship to nurture. Her language signals distance and uncertainty, framing “father” as a title that must be earned rather than assumed.
Howard – my dad, I guess I should call him – was looking at me with a concerned expression.
— Prologue The hedging shows how grief shrinks family to duty; Lina can mimic the label but not the bond. -
The Found Family: In Florence, Lina’s support net widens immediately. Sonia’s home-cooked care and the Ferraras’ open-door chaos give Lina a blueprint for love that looks like invitations, meals, and shared jokes—ordinary gestures that accumulate into belonging. These chapters affirm that family is a practice of welcome, not a pedigree. See Chapter 1-5 Summary.
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The Ultimate Choice: When Lina learns the truth about her paternity, she must decide whether family is defined by biology or by who shows up. She embraces Howard not because he “counts” on paper, but because he has consistently chosen her, transforming the father-daughter bond from a question mark into a daily reality.
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The Failure of Blood Ties: Matteo’s cold refusal exposes the emptiness of genetics without love. His rejection functions as a negative definition of family: shared DNA cannot substitute for care, accountability, or presence.
Character Connections
Lina Emerson: Lina’s arc moves from survival to agency. Initially, she treats family as a fixed inheritance that has failed her; by the end, she claims the power to select, nurture, and name her own kin. Her choice of Howard articulates the book’s thesis: real family requires intention.
Howard Mercer: Howard reframes fatherhood as a verb—he shows up, prepares a room, cooks meals, and listens. His steady, unflashy devotion models how chosen family is created through repetition and reliability, proving that commitment can be more binding than blood.
Matteo Rossi: Matteo embodies the hollowness of a purely biological bond. His absence and rejection contrast with Howard’s presence, sharpening the novel’s moral calculus: love confers responsibility; biology confers nothing without it.
Sonia: Sonia’s gentle authority and practical generosity provide maternal ballast. She doesn’t replace Hadley; she extends the idea of mothering into community, showing that care can be distributed across a network rather than concentrated in a single role.
Lorenzo “Ren” Ferrara: Ren offers Lina an easy, peer-level intimacy that feels like home. His family’s openness normalizes a version of family that is kinetic and porous, teaching Lina that belonging is as much about shared moments as shared ancestry.
Hadley Emerson: Even in absence, Hadley guides Lina’s understanding of family through her journal. Her past choices and vulnerabilities complicate the family narrative, inviting Lina to honor legacy while reauthoring its meaning.
Symbolic Elements
The Cemetery: The Florence American Cemetery transforms a space of endings into a place of beginnings. Living among graves, Lina learns that love persists beyond loss—and that new bonds can grow from the very soil of grief.
Hadley’s Journal: The journal functions as a map through the tangled terrain of lineage, revealing hidden histories and tender mistakes. As Lina reads, she assembles a story in which truth—not secrecy—becomes the groundwork for chosen connection.
Howard’s House: Initially alien and austere, the house warms as Howard refits it to Lina’s needs. Its shift from lodging to home mirrors their relationship, turning shelter into sanctuary through consistent, thoughtful care.
Contemporary Relevance
The novel’s vision of family resonates in a world of blended households, adoptive and single-parent families, and chosen kinship networks. It validates the lived reality that care, constancy, and consent—not matching last names—hold people together. For readers negotiating fractured or unconventional structures, the story offers both permission and a model: you can build the family you need, and that choice is neither lesser nor provisional—it is love, formalized by action.
Essential Quote
“Define ‘father.’ … if you go with another definition, meaning ‘a man who wants to be in your life and help raise you,’ then yes. I am.”
— Chapter 26-28 Summary
This line redefines kinship in operational terms: fatherhood is measured by presence and participation. By setting desire and responsibility above genetics, the quote crystallizes the novel’s argument that real family is chosen, maintained, and made real through everyday acts of care.