Book Review for Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate by Jess Wells
Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate, by Jess Wells, is a story about interweaving the romances of the past to create a home for the future.
Gretchen is a divorced mother who had lost her son in an accident. Struggling to get away from it all, she decides to go to a small village in Italy where she meets an elderly baker named Bettina Liguria. After a series of odd encounters, Gretchen decides to help Bettina run her bakery while she finds someone else to help her. Soon however, she realizes that there’s more to this tiny village than what meets the eye. Jess Wells carves a heartwarming tale of love and loss by bringing together beautiful phrases filled with family, hope, and chocolate.
I admit, when I first opened up this book, I was skeptical. In fact, I was almost expecting a fairytale to just pop out of nowhere. However, as I delved further into the story, I was more than happy to be proven wrong. There was Gretchen, who shared a similar pain to Bettina Liguria, who had lost her family as well. There was Paolo and his sister, who struggled with a mother that had simply ran off with a man much younger than she. Then there were the past lovers themselves, who fought to get their family to where they were at. Wells masterfully wove time together to illustrate just how tender love can befall time. It’s a concept that I had fallen in love with, and one that I refuse to let go of.
However, what really did impact me was the love between Caterina and Edoardo. Despite World War II going on, they still had time to share a simple, yet wonderful love story between them. What’s more, Caterina threw herself into supporting her village, showing that she wouldn’t let a romance and the prospect of freedom distract her from caring for her loved ones. It made their relationship all the more tragic when Edoardo was executed. She dragged the entire village down with her, if only for the sake of avenging her husband. Their story gave me chills, because it reminded me of how easily something so wonderful could be ripped away in an instant.
The sensory imagery was just as delightful as the story. From Gretchen creating the bread, to Caterina and her chocolate, I could practically see the entire scene in my mind. It was oddly comforting in a way, reminding me of a small village in the winter, a village that’s just trying to get by in a world that seemed to easily overlook them.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. From the interweaving between timeless romances, to the hope that new love would blossom, Wells definitely adds a magical atmosphere into her book. The book did carry some of the fairytale-like features that didn’t make it cliche, and it was something that I was grateful for. As such, I would give this book a rating of a 4.6 out of 5.0 stars, and would recommend it to those who enjoy The Mer Chronicles by Errin Stevens and I, Coriander by Sally Gardener.
