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A review by daniellelouis_
Lost in the Spanish Quarter: A Novel by Heddi Goodrich
4.0
I'd like to comment firstly about the beautiful way Heddi has written Lost In The Spanish Quarter; her visualisation ability when it came to imagery, characterisations and the emotions that radiated from her words are applaudable! I found myself completely immersed into Heddi and Pietro's love affair, I was blown away by the undeniable passion and the nostalgia within the pages. The novel is written in a nostalgic fashion, with the narrative being split between the emails that Heddi exchanges with her past lover with in the present and her past experiences in Naples, their whirlwind romance and the crumbling, dripped to us in the most elegantly poetic fashion.
The characterisation within Lost in The Spanish Quarter are obviously non - fictional or closely based on the real individuals - either way it's done so blooming well! Heddi comes across as the shy student, who is trying to look for her place in the world with an air of naivety - where young unquenched love is real and the perfect life is possible, just within reach. Heddi meets Pietro and quite frankly he got my feathers up quite quickly, to me he felt like a man who walks with a sense of entitlement that was quite sanctimonious. There was obviously a level of emotional inequality within the romantic relationship, which rears it's head again through the emails - Pietro is motivated by money, his needs to have a career and to be respected, which would be impossible without bowing down to his fabulously rich parents. Whereas Heddi is motivated by her heart, what she feels is right and her longing to find a place she fits. A truly spectacular, heart captivating novel, we've all had that first love and Heddi Goodrich has constructed a novel that expresses the full emotive depth of that. (Argh, I truly loved everything about this book!)
I loved the inclusion of the email chapters, they highlighted and questioned everything that hadn't been questioned in their youth. Heddi appeared stronger and more aware of her feelings which showed the level of maturing that had happened over the time period, she took her heart in her hands and it was brilliant! The emails from Pietro were written in the exact voice that I would have expected from him, the vocabulary used and the egotistical articulation - completely spot on.
The characterisation within Lost in The Spanish Quarter are obviously non - fictional or closely based on the real individuals - either way it's done so blooming well! Heddi comes across as the shy student, who is trying to look for her place in the world with an air of naivety - where young unquenched love is real and the perfect life is possible, just within reach. Heddi meets Pietro and quite frankly he got my feathers up quite quickly, to me he felt like a man who walks with a sense of entitlement that was quite sanctimonious. There was obviously a level of emotional inequality within the romantic relationship, which rears it's head again through the emails - Pietro is motivated by money, his needs to have a career and to be respected, which would be impossible without bowing down to his fabulously rich parents. Whereas Heddi is motivated by her heart, what she feels is right and her longing to find a place she fits. A truly spectacular, heart captivating novel, we've all had that first love and Heddi Goodrich has constructed a novel that expresses the full emotive depth of that. (Argh, I truly loved everything about this book!)
I loved the inclusion of the email chapters, they highlighted and questioned everything that hadn't been questioned in their youth. Heddi appeared stronger and more aware of her feelings which showed the level of maturing that had happened over the time period, she took her heart in her hands and it was brilliant! The emails from Pietro were written in the exact voice that I would have expected from him, the vocabulary used and the egotistical articulation - completely spot on.