WHEN THE CHURCH BURNS DOWN, CANCEL THE WEDDING

Debut author Braca offers a paean to the single life.

The author—a marketing executive and yoga instructor in Tuscany—presents an engaging set of stories about reclaiming her life after her divorce following six years of marriage. The disruption of her Connecticut wedding by a church fire, she writes, seemed to be a sign that she shouldn’t see marriage as everything in life. Indeed, throughout this book, Braca narrates the ways she learned to remake herself and embrace the possibility of a happy, single existence that didn’t exclude meaningful relationships. In the process, she learned how to push back against unwanted questions of why she was “still” single. A common theme of this essay collection is the idea of rediscovering oneself; it includes accounts of travel and a tribute to losing weight. She includes a humorous anecdote about her cat being too good of a mouser and another about how to own a BMW and not be irritating (“Growing up, my mother always told me that BMW drivers were assholes”). The most poignant chapters, though, are about her search for and embrace of her Italian roots, which led to her current living situation. This book shines most brightly in its travel tales, some of which illustrate the intersection of business and pleasure, including a heartfelt account of a trip to Israel. Braca further expands on her views on what one should expect from life in a story about a European river cruise that turned out to be mainly for seniors, during which she learned a lesson about being young at heart. Other noteworthy vignettes recount visits to Iceland before and after its popularization as a tourist destination and finding community on the Greek island of Santorini. Each shows how travel has expanded her world and conveys her joy at having done so.

A delightful travelogue and memoir.