High school sweethearts Miranda and Adam haven’t seen each other for more than 30 years — ever since Adam painfully betrayed Miranda. Having both lived full lives since that time, the two end up in Rome together at the same time, and are re-introduced by a mutual friend. Meeting for daily outings in the historic city, they get to know the adult versions of each other — the unrealized dreams and the realities of life in sharper focus than when they were teenagers. An interesting concept, the novel leads listeners to wonder — What would my first love think of me, now?

Alice Rosengard has one strength as the narrator of this novel — her Italian is beautiful and melodic. But when speaking English, her voice is warbly, sounding many years older than the protagonist’s age of 50-something. Her pace is staccato in strange places — it sounds more as if she’s reciting poetry than a novel, and she infuses each sentence with drama, rather than letting the subtlety of the words wash over the listener. The difference in tone when she’s portraying Adam is so slight, that conversations between Miranda and Adam are confusing at times; it’s hard to tell who is speaking. Her tone in the flashback portions of the book is even more off-putting. The girlish, heady affections of teenage love are in disconnect with the quavering, elderly voice conveying them.

The narration often distracts from the carefully selected words and beautiful story-telling of author Mary Gordon, rather than enhancing them. But lovers of Rome, and those who have always wondered “what if?”, will still enjoy the premise of this slow-to-blossom novel. —Colleen Oakley