Product Description

Elizabeth has wanted two things her entire life to keep her happy and fulfilled - an Italian husband and lots of rosy-cheeked bambini. The first is ticked off now she's bagged dark and sexy Roberto, the second is proving harder to achieve. But when Roberto loses his job and decides to leave London for Italy and the family business, Elizabeth hopes the change in lifestyle might help her relax and boost her chances of conceiving. Except, no matter how much ice cream she eats in the sun-drenched piazza, it's impossible to relax when her wily mother-in-law (the original black widow) seems hellbent on destroying her marriage. The language barrier is tricky, as is Roberto's beautiful, significant ex who practically lives next door. Is Elizabeth's desire for a baby enough to hold her marriage together or is it ripping it apart? And why is she suddenly craving the company of a gorgeous, blond American stranger? Her filthy, flirty thoughts about him are totally inappropriate. Yet undeniably temperatures are rising ... and it's nothing to do with the Mediterranean sun.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8563 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
We've come to expect a lot from Adele Parks. She's dazzled us with tales of broken hearts, new loves and girly adventures in the likes of Young Wives' Tales and Playing Away, and now she's back with her eighth novel . . . Another gem (Heat )

Back at her pacy best (Company )

Parks has produced another sassy blinder (Mirror )

Another sure-fire hit (Closer )

About the Author
Adele Parks was born in Teesside, north-east England, and now lives in Guildford with her husband and son. She is the author of seven bestselling novels, including the iconic Playing Away and, more recently, The Other Woman's Shoes, Husbands and Young Wives' Tales.

Customer Reviews

A feel good read
A story that every girl can relate to, especially where evil mother-in-laws come in. Just when Elizabeth thinks she has everything she needs it is all turned on its head. She already has her handsome Italian husband but numerous attempts at conceiving the babies, that Elizabeth so desperately wants, has pushed him into the arms of his ex leaving Elizabeth to fend for herself. Following a move to the country she loves, Italy, Elizabeth finds that it is not all its cracked up to be and the language barrier is proving difficult. In a search to give her life some meaning and get away from her disapproving mother-in-law, Elizabeth enlists the help of a handsome American language teacher. He becomes a very close friend, but Elizabeth secretly wants more. Torn between making her marriage work against all odds or falling into the arms of her American friend, Elizabeth has to search her heart. A wonderful happy ending. Romance is not dead!

Pity about the wet central character!
Adele Parks is a superb author of contemporary women's fiction and her latest book, Tell Me Something, tells the story of Elizabeth whose desparate need to have a baby with her Italian husband Roberto over-rides every other aspect of her life. Parks' prose, as ever is punchy and excellent and the novel zips along well, but I must confess that I got rather annoyed with Elizabeth's self-centred approach to life and it made her rather shallow as a result.

On the plus side, the descriptions of Italy are fantastic and the character of Elizabeth's fearsome mother-in-law are well-crafted. Actually, apart from Elizabeth, all of the other characters are fairly believable and have the requisite amount of personality to appear believable. There are a few twists and turns towards the end of the book to maintain interest and overall it's a good read, but not one of Parks' best works I'm afraid.

It's like feminism never happened
I was initially a fan of Adele Parks, but have been gradually finding her books less entertaining. This one however is the final straw, a complete insult to anyone's intelligence.

The teenage Elizabeth goes on holiday to Italy with her family and falls in love with the country and thereafter makes it her life's ambition to marry an Italian man, have lots of children and live in Italy. Not that she actually does anything constructive about this, like studying Italian at university, or even night school, or travelling back to Italy.

Her only efforts are to have flings with a string of Italian boyfriends she meets through her bar job till she eventually settled down with Roberto and marries him. Even then she barely makes an effort to learn the language and they don't visit the country until moving there some six years post wedding.

Their relationship becomes strained by her all consuming obsession with getting pregnant and things only go down hill when, her husband having lost his job, they move back to Italy and in with the "wicked mother in law" - no stereotyping there eh! The mother in law clearly would prefer Roberto to have married his ex girlfriend - and given she is educated and intelligent, it is not hard to understand why.

Elizabeth shows no real sign of caring about anyone other than herself and her fantasy of being a mother. Her husband is treated like a sperm bank, denied sex when it is too close to her fertile time and told he owes it to her to have IVF.

Elizabeth ultimately gets her happy ending, but it's hard to say she deserves it. It is hard to imagine a more dull and silly character - she's about as two dimentional as the various stereotypes she gets accused of believing in throughout the book. If it wasn't for the fact I was stuck on a train journey without anything better to read I would have thrown this one away without finishing it.