LIZZIE & DANTE

A 32-year-old Shakespeare professor with stage 3 cancer learns to embrace life on a vacation in Elba, Italy, in romance author Eloisa James' first novel using her real name—under which she's also a Shakespeare professor at Rutgers.

Lizzie Delford leaves New York for six weeks in Italy, traveling with her best friend, Grey, and his partner, movie star Rohan Das. Lizzie is ostensibly on the trip as an adviser to Rohan, who's writing a screenplay for a new film of Romeo and Juliet; but Grey is hoping she will rest and recover from her latest bout of chemo. At the beach, Lizzie meets Dante, a world-renowned chef and single father to Etta, a precocious 12-year-old. As Lizzie contemplates whether she should try more invasive and extreme cancer treatments, she begins an affair with Dante. She can’t resist the charming Italian and his love for the island and its history, even as she keeps her diagnosis secret. Slowly, the group bonds into something like a family. The novel grapples with the question of what terminally ill people owe their loved ones and themselves. While her best friend is furious that Lizzie might refuse further treatment, Lizzie worries that her illness is a burden. She feels guilty for falling in love with Dante and his daughter, knowing her time is limited. Bly makes an interesting narrative choice, telling the story from the points of view of Lizzie and Etta, Dante’s daughter. Etta is knowledgeable enough about literature to banter with Lizzie about Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha and gender roles in Shakespeare's plays, but she's still a child, and her perspective confines the reader’s experience of the book.

An emotional journey that's stunted by the way it's told.