I really enjoyed this book, this was definitely my kind of book. Set between the two world wars and set in glorious locations, you can definitely lose yourself in the story. Alexa is the main character and she is growing up in the lovely Cornish countryside and coast. After losing her mother at a young age to pneumonia, her dad marries her mum's ex nurse. Alexa misses her mother terribly and the grief she is feeling follows her right through the story, I don't think she ever got over it. At first she blames her grandmother and her husband for her mum's death. After a long and unhappy time at boarding school, where her grief still haunts her, she takes a job as a ladies companion, as suggested by one of her old teachers. She is soon joining her employer in Venice where she is once again seeking out her grandmother to find unanswered answers. Her employer has a cad of a nephew and Alexa soon falls under his spell, confusing his attentions for real love. The question is does she still love her old childhood sweetheart Harvey? But is he now married? The question I think, is it her all consuming grief for her mother stopping her from finding true love. A really lovely love story.