‘Does dissatisfaction become contentment when you resign yourself to it?’ Carmen, a middle aged childless woman, is not so sure. She decides to take a leap into the depths of her past. Nothing compels her to do so. She is the wealthy wife of an ex-diplomat, drinks her afternoon sherry without remorse and is very active in the local public library as a literature lover (‘she feels old because she loves to read’). 

Resurgent memories of her first holiday on the Mediterranean with her parents in Monterosso (Cinque Terre), where she had her first kiss underwater, lead her to take the plane to Italy by herself for a short spring break. Antonio was his name. Who knows, after all these years, she might meet him again. What nobody knows yet – except the narrator of this story – is that, due to unforeseen circumstances, she will have to stay in Monterosso much longer than intended. The impasse this causes comes to an end when she meets a little boy from the village one afternoon.

Monterosso mon amour is a story about the importance of stories. And at the same time, it is an ode to the anonymous people who keep the literary business going, such as booksellers and librarians.

Monterosso mon amour was the Dutch National Bookweek Gift of 2022 and had a print run of 550.000 copies.