A Not So Dolce Vita

A Not So Dolce Vita (2012) by Julia Falkner-Tompkins. This is a not-so-interesting memoir about a fairly interesting life. Falkner-Tompkins and her little sister were sent to the United States from England during World War II. They lived in this country for four years before rejoining their parents for a life of traveling around Europe and the world, due to their parents' musical careers. Falkner-Tompkins is engaging at times, but this book is so poorly written (her grammar is atrocious) that it suffers in the process. Of interest to me is that she lived in Italy for several years as a girl and attended Italian schools, thus becoming fluent in Italian. There's no telling what other languages she learned, because the book skirts the issue. This memoir only covers her life up until her marriage at age 18, and I was very curious to know what happened to her after that. But it was not to be. The book abruptly ends, leaving the reader feeling dissatisfied. Grade: C+