3.5 stars

I'm a sucker for a book that transports me to a different country and a different era. "Under a Sardinian Sky" does that. The majority of the story is about Carmela, a young Sardinian women engaged to be married to Franco in 1950s Sardinia. Carmela is not only the oldest child in her family, but she's a talented seamstress who has also learned English - which serves her well when the American army needs an interpreter when speaking to local farmers about renting their land for American military purposes.

Enter Joe Kavanagh. An American officer who has fallen under the spell of the Sardinian landscape, the people and the food. Working side by the side, Carmela and Joe start to fall in love with one another - knowing that a future between the two of them would be almost impossible.

This book had it's highs and lows for me.

Highs:
This wasn't only a love story between two people. It really was about self discovery and growth. It was about learning to live with the decisions you make and sometimes putting yourself first.

Carmela wasn't simply a one dimensional character who towed the family line. As she was exposed to new people and experiences she really took everything in; she was able to open her eyes and see that perhaps she wanted more out of her life rather than live on a farm in Simius. She realized that she wanted to be desired by her husband not just because she was the girl next door, or because of her looks; she wanted to impress him with her mind and non-physical attributes.

Description of food and scenery. Sara Alexander was able to create a world of sandy beaches, rugged landscape, war weary farmers and families who simply want to get back to their way of life. Cooking and eating played a major role in this book: the men sitting around while the women prepared meals/feasts- Italian sausage stuffed with fennel and garlic, freshly made cheese, daily baked bread, olives, marinated peppers, spit-roasted suckling pig, roasted lamb, ravioli, percorino cheese, and honey drizzled fried pastry.

Lows:
It was so wordy. Sometimes I just wanted Carmela to shut her mind off - I felt like she never stopped overthinking everything. Which became a little bothersome when she often kept thinking the same thing over and over again. I feel that this story could have been edited slightly more aggressively without taking away from the storyline.

When you start the book you meet Mina - who is Carmela's niece. Mina's family never talks about Carmela, but Mina decides that she must put Carmela's story to print. My issue with this is that ... if no one talks about Carmela - how does Mina know the story? Or any part of the story? I would have preferred that the Mina component was either cut out completely, or that a little of the ending was brought to the beginning so that it would make more sense (or that Mina had come upon journals or something to tie Carmela's story with her).

That said.

If you enjoyed "Beautiful Ruins" and "300 Days of Sun" - I think you'll love this book. You'll certainly root for Carmela and Joe (and dislike Franco) and the ending brings things nicely together.

Recommended summer read. It will transport you to a different time and place and make you hungry for an Italian feast.

Mina has always been fascinated by her aunt Carmela. The woman apparently disappeared from her home in Italy decades before and is now only talked about in whispers. Now, with Mina’s mother stricken with cancer, Mina fears she may only have a short time to find out the truth about Carmela. Back in 1952 Sardinia, Carmela is about to marry a wealthy man, Franco and her family is thrilled with the match. But Carmela begins to grow concerned about Franco’s anger and need to control her. The she’s hired as in interpreter for Joe, an American stationed at a local army base and she begins to realize that she does not want the life her family has laid out for her. But Franco is a dangerous man, and Carmela’s desire to please her family runs deep. Mina slowly uncovers the truth about what happened to Carmela in this multigenerational story of love and duty