This was my first book by Jess Walters and I had no idea what to expect. I enjoyed the piecemeal narrative, which weaves together the lives of 6 very different characters connected by a chance meeting between a young Italian hotelier and an American actress in 1962. Walters is a very visual writer and the people and places were very distinct and vivid in my mind. The book touches on the cult of celebrity, the pull of family, second (and third and fourth) chances, and the overall messiness of love and life. It wasn't as light as I thought it would be, given the cover treatment and the premise, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the novel. I flew through it and highly recommend it, though I felt the end was a bit too tidy and Hollywood for me, though this may have been the point. It also made me want to go back and watch Liza Taylor movies, which you'll understand once you read the book.