Looking for the Durrells

Looking for the Durrells was an easy, romantic read that grew on me as it meandered along at a happy pace. The novel is set in Corfu, and follows Penny as she arrives for a month on the island on a pilgrimage to follow in the footsteps of the Durrells. I had never heard of the Durrells until reading this book, so I admit some of the nuances and nostalgia may have been a little lost on me. Penny is a book illustrator, and Hewitt does a nice job of portraying the island through the eyes of a painter, often drawing out colours and shapes to encourage you into Penny’s shoes. Having lost her father to an aggressive form of cancer 6 months before her trip and breaking up with her fiancé, this story is as much about finding yourself again through grief as it is a holiday romance.

I went in a little skeptical I’ll admit, romances aren’t usually in my TBR shelf - but the idea of escaping to corfu (even if it was only in my imagination) was a very strong pull! My favourite aspects of this book centre around the characters; Tess and little Theo who run the Athena felt very realistic - the ebb and flow of life running a busy restaurant, staff who become family, regular customers and everyone being interested in each others love lives - in my experience this really is what makes up working in hospitality! Penny’s development throughout the book, whilst in parts repetitive and a bit slow, also felt very relatable. The feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop, replaying old memories after a break-up and self-doubt all played out very naturally. And then there’s the mysterious Dimitri. Honestly, it was an all-too-predictable set of circumstances, but seeing the romance build up was still a pleasure - who doesn’t love a quiet, handsome greek man who prefers wallflower artists to high powered lawyers after all!

Some constructive criticism - there was a lot of repetitive narration about the Durrells. I know it’s in the name, and I know I didn’t watch the TV show - but it did feel like there was space for a bit more interesting interaction here. It was a very realistic pilgrimage - all the old family houses are now privately owned and you can’t see them, a quick chat with someone who met them as a boy but didn’t really remember it, the visit to their home that’s now a restaurant. I was hoping for a bit of a stronger connection, or revelation - this is fiction after all! I enjoyed that the book hopped around from character to character, giving us an insight into the various ways people experience the same event, but this did confuse me a couple of times. I think reading it on a kindle didn’t help, as some of the paragraphs weren’t clearly delineated. Finally - it ended too soon!! Unless there’s going to be a sequel, it really felt as though it finished just as things were getting interesting, and although I understand ending a holiday read at the airport is a pit predictable, I’d really have liked some closure.

Now excuse me whilst I go and attempt to replicate a decent greek salad and pray next year we’ll have international travel on the cards again! I’d recommend this read for all those romantic-holiday-woman-finds-herself readers out there. There was room for improvement, but I still enjoyed it as an easy beach read. Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK/HarperInspire for the advanced reader copy!

CW: Cancer, death, loss, bereavement, grief.