If Only: A Novel

Written by Kate Eberlen

Narrated by Kristin Atherton

Kate Eberlen, the bestselling author of Miss You, returns with a serendipitous and modern romance. For fans of David Nicholls and Jojo Moyes, If Only is the story of two people who fall in love and the secrets that tear them apart.

How can you know someone until you learn to talk about the past?

Letty and Alf are the only English speakers in an Italian class in Rome, where they discover that the language that really connects them is dance. Alf is nineteen, a former ballroom champion who seems reassuringly confident and at ease with himself. Letty, twenty-two, is unusually reserved and studious, having been forced to give up her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer. They come from different worlds, but when they waltz around the Piazza Navona together, a passionate relationship begins.

Can their decision to live in the moment in the Eternal City keep their histories from encroaching? Why is Alf living in a shared apartment, estranged from his family? And what has wrenched Letty away from the apparent security of her Oxford University degree? They each find themselves haunted by the fear that the secrets not yet shared will tear them apart.

If Only is a novel about identity, secrets, passion and dance—and the indefinable collision of physical, emotional and intellectual excitement that we call falling in love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781443462587

Kate Eberlen

KATE EBERLEN grew up in a small town close to London and spent her childhood reading books and longing to escape to the big city. She studied classics at Oxford University before pursuing a variety of jobs in publishing, the arts and teaching. Eberlen loves Italy and dance, two passions that are reflected in If Only. She lives in London.

Reviews for If Only

[Sarah DiGloria · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sweet story that reads like a beautiful dance. And I must say the narrator elevates the experience of listening so much. Really well done. Lyrical.