“Adriana Trigiani” Very Valentine Reviews
Very Valentine: A Novel (Hardcover)
#47 Customer Favorite in Literature & Fiction Amazon.com
Author: Adriana Trigiani
This title will be released on February 3, 2009
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Rating:
In this contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of custom wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family businesses in Greenwich Village. On the brink of financial ruin, it falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented but unsuspecting apprentice, to bring her family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century. Juggling a romantic relationship with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design competition for a prestigious department store, Valentine accompanies her grandmother and master artisan Teodora to Italy in the hope of finding inspiration. There, in Tuscany and on the Isle of Capri, she discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life around in ways she never expected.
From Publishers Weekly
This first-in-a-trilogy is a frilly valentine to Manhattan’s picturesque West Village, starring a boisterous and charmingly contentious Italian-American family. Valentine Roncalli, adrift after a failed relationship and an aborted teaching career, becomes an apprentice to her 80-year-old grandmother, Teodora Angelini, at the tiny family shoe business. While Valentine struggles to come up with a financial plan—and shoe design—to bring the Old World operation into the 21st century, her brother, Alfred, is pushing Gram to retire and sell her building for $6 million. It’s not all business for Valentine, of course: handsome and sophisticated Roman Falconi, owner and chef at a posh restaurant, is vying for her heart. Bestselling Trigiani channels ambition and girl-power, but is surprisingly reserved—and retro—when it comes to romance: [O]ur relationship has to build slowly and beautifully in order to hold all the joy and misery that lies ahead, thinks Valentine. Still, this genteel and lush tale of soles and souls has loads of charm and will leave readers eager for the sequel.
Review
“…Trigiani offers plenty of reasons to stick around for part two.” –Kirkus Reviews
This first-in-a-trilogy is a frilly valentine to Manhattan’s picturesque West Village, starring a boisterous and charmingly contentious Italian-American family. Valentine Roncalli, adrift after a failed relationship and an aborted teaching career, becomes an apprentice to her 80-year-old grandmother, Teodora Angelini, at the tiny family shoe business. While Valentine struggles to come up with a financial plan–and shoe design–to bring the Old World operation into the 21st century, her brother, Alfred, is pushing Gram to retire and sell her building for $6 million. It’s not all business for Valentine, of course: handsome and sophisticated Roman Falconi, owner and chef at a posh restaurant, is vying for her heart. Bestselling Trigiani channels ambition and girl-power, but is surprisingly reserved–and retro–when it comes to romance: “[O]ur relationship has to build slowly and beautifully in order to hold all the joy and misery that lies ahead,” thinks Valentine. Still, this genteel and lush tale of soles and souls has loads of charm and will leave readers eager for the sequel. (Feb.) –Publishers Weekly
Product Description
Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani’s millions of fans around the world.
In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.
While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani’s trademark heart and humor.
About the Author
Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. The author of the bestselling Big Stone Gap series and the bestselling novels Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, and Rococo, she has also written and will be directing the big-screen version of her first novel, Big Stone Gap, in addition to writing the Viola Chesterton Chronicles, a young adult series for HarperCollins Children’s Books. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
Customer Reviews:
IN-STEP WITH VERY VALENTINE
By Rosalie Ciardullo
Welcome to Angelini Shoes since 1903 in Greenwich Village, N.Y. Side by side two generations create custom made wedding shoes – and memories. Val Roncalli and Gram Angelini live and work together with great success! Tradition, ambition, rendition, audition are all part of this wonderful novel by Adriana Trigiani. To say it’s an entertaining voyage through the lives of the Angelini’s and the Roncalli’s would be an understatement! The characters are vividly brought to life and become a part of the reader’s. Hilarity, romance – not just Val’s but 80 year old Gram’s as well – creativity, devotion, fortitude, all describe the workings of this story. If you love Italian – people, food, places – you’ll love this novel. Valentine takes us along on her trip to the Isle of Capri in all it’s splendor even though she’d rather be savoring it with her lover the chef. While there and in Arezzo she meets and learns from talented old world craftsmen who instantly bond with her. She learns much and takes it to Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan for the grand prize. Hopefully I’ve piqued your interest and you’ll find it hard to wait to read this wonderful first book in the new trilogy. I loved it from beginning to end which came too quickly.
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