The Doors of Rome

A delightful, up-lifting story of an ordinary woman whose life is transformed by one simple task: Photographing the doors of Rome.

Salt-of-the-earth housewife, Millie Devonshire enjoys making a home for her husband and going on "therapy" jogs with her best friend, yet Millie feels adventure is missing from her life. Middle-aged, childless, and married to all-too practical Walter, Millie is consistently told to wait until retirement for their adventurous life to begin. One day, she enters a photography contest and wins first prize—an all expense paid trip to Rome for two. Certainly Walter will agree to go on this free adventure with her, right?

When Walter declines because he's up for a promotion at work, Millie decides to make her own dreams of adventure come true. She heads to Rome with her best friend and running partner, Edith instead. Yet Edith has her own demands: She'll go only if Millie runs the Rome Marathon with her. When Millie and Edith arrive in Rome, they have no idea how their lives are about to be turned upside down and how many other lives will be transformed forever. Always kind, always cheery, and always hopeful, the indomitable Millie takes Rome by storm and learns some of life's greatest lessons along the way: If you don't invest in love, you'll lose it and sometimes you have to leave someone behind to get their attention.

Slow and Steady

The premise was interesting but the story seemed to wander a bit. I’m not sure I related to any of the characters, and am disappointed that the book focused more on them than on the reason they were in Rome. I came in with a focus on creativity, but the contest prize trip wasn’t wrapped up with any kind of announcement of photos selected for the calendar they were supposed to be working on.

As far as presentation goes, I didn’t notice in audiobook description that the reader would be AI. It’s ok but still needs work on Italian words and English expressions like “tada!”