Point of View

One Italian Summer is told through first-person narration, from Katy’s point of view. Katy’s struggle to process the dramatic life changes she is going through makes this narration style especially useful, as Katy does not often express her feelings to those around her. The reader learns of Katy’s various attitudes towards the people in her life just as she, herself, starts to understand them. Serle relates Katy’s physical and emotional journey from start to finish, encouraging the reader to empathize with her protagonist’s plight.

Katy’s character growth can be observed in the gradual transition of her tone as narrator, from whiny and morose to optimistic and grateful. The start of the novel is characterized by Katy’s frequent laments about the loss of her role as Carol’s daughter. In Chapter 1, Katy says, “My mother, you see, is the...