A Scottish Teashop in Napoli by Jane Lambert

Title: A Scottish Teashop in Napoli

Author: Jane Lambert

Genre: Women’s Lit

Rating: ★★★★☆

Source: Netgalley / Rachel’s Random Resources

Blurb: When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart stands her up on their wedding day, she finds herself alone on a plane to a tropical location. Her dream of a bairn-filled future is gone in a heartbeat and the time it takes for her to listen to the rambling drunken voicemail he left calling off the wedding.

In Naples, Elena is recently widowed and trying to keep her husband’s family’s beloved and centuries old mozzarella factory afloat, whilst running her language school and bringing up their son. At risk of losing both businesses – and adding even more disruption to their life – she advertises a job and hopes for the best.

The stars seem to align and Elena and Lucy, each suffering from a very different sort of loss and loneliness, set about trying to lift the struggling business and each other.

Review: This is such a good story! The only thing preventing me giving it 5 stars is it feels a little incomplete, as if there’ll be another book to make it a series.

But both Lucy and Elena are fabulous, well-rounded characters and the reader feels for them and their griefs, though quite different. Lucy’s fiancé dumped her by voicemail (seriously!) while Elena’s husband has passed away. Taking a risk, Lucy flies to Napoli for a teaching job, where the two women meet.

Lucy seems to have always put others first, so it’s lovely to see how she blossoms with ideas for herself with the encouragement of her new Italian friends, as well as learning to love again. To be honest, I was a teeny bit disappointed that said love interest is Elena’s son’s godfather and not Elena, but the burn was slow and satisfactory, so I’ll forgive this for not being a sapphic romance!

As I mentioned, there are hints of there being at least one more book, dealing (I presume) with the tentative, blossoming romance on Elena’s side of things. This one is a story of feminine friendship, community, and healing from loss, set in gorgeous countryside with depictions so vivid, you’ll feel the sun on your face.