One Italian Summer

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who has written eight books within the contemporary fiction and young adult genres. Her novel In Five Years, along with One Italian Summer, is a New York Times bestseller, and her young adult series, Famous in Love (2014-2015), was adapted for television. Serle received a Master of Fine Arts from the New School in New York City, where she now resides part time when not in Los Angeles. Many of Serle’s novels are set in Los Angeles and New York, deriving from her personal knowledge of both cities.

Her novels tend to revolve around relationships between women and focus on the process of self-discovery relating to these relationships. Having written for both adults and young adults, Serle’s stories illustrate what it means for women in the 21st century to discover their sense of self and the importance of platonic and romantic relationships. Serle also focuses on grief and how loss of loved ones affects her characters’ self-discovery processes.

Looking specifically at One Italian Summer, the settings used in the novel are familiar areas for Serle. Her characters live, or have lived, in Los Angeles and New York, just as she has. She also gained inspiration for One Italian Summer after visiting Positano and the Hotel Poseidon with a friend. At the end of the 2023 Atria paperback edition, Serle included correspondence with a family member of the current owners of Hotel Poseidon. She utilizes her real-life experience and knowledge of places and people to create the characters and settings of her stories.