REVIEW: If You Could Go Anywhere by Paige Toon

Twenty-nine year old Angie has always dreamed of travelling the world, but due to family obligations has never managed to leave the small mining village where she lives in the Australian outback.

When her grandmother passes away, Angie is finally free. But finding a hidden letter addressed to the father she has never known alters the course of her life forever.

Now she must travel to Italy, to meet the family she hadn’t known existed. But on her journey she might find a little more than she was expecting.

Paige Toon is an extremely well known bestselling author, yet this is the first book I have read by her and I’m so glad I did. This story follows Angie on a trip to Italy to meet the father she has never known, and who knew nothing of her existence in return.

This was a really nice story of friendship, romance and finding yourself. At first Angie was unsure of herself and easily frightened by the possibility of challenging situations. Her character development was huge overall, yet I liked the way the author managed to weave it so subtly into the story that it was barely recognisable. This for me made her change in persona so much more believable.

The whole cast of characters in this book are highly lovable. I have only one slightly negative point, and that is I would have liked to have read some more about this vivid and larger than life Italian family. I wanted more dough throwing, pasta making and goat milking with Giulio and Nonna.

But what really made this book for me, was Italy. A few years ago I spent a month travelling around this incredible country, including many of the places Toon touches upon in this novel. You could tell she had been and explored there, and I could not fault a single line she wrote. The descriptions instantly took me back to meandering through the bustling streets of Florence, Rome and Venice, and I could wholly relate to Angie’s reactions to the exquisite buildings and views as they were exactly how I felt myself. Having read this in 2020 amidst the global pandemic and the severe lack of travelling I have been able to do, this was a huge lift and has definitely cemented my feelings for wanting to revisit Italy again someday!

I would highly recommend this book for fans of a slow burn romance and lots of escapism.