Review: Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani introduces the Roncalli clan and the world of custom shoes, the West Village and the beauty of Italy. What a combination - the premise sounded irresistible to me and the book certainly delivered.





My Summary: Valentine Roncalli lives with her grandmother in an apartment above the West Village shop that houses the Angelini custom shoe business in which Valentine works with her grandmother. The business has been in the family for generations and Valentine has a passion for her family, their history and for the artistry of making one of a kind shoes using luxurious materials. Amid the stresses of keeping a small niche business afloat, Valentine attempts a romance with a handsome restauranteur and tries to fit their lovelife into their crazy schedules. When Valentine accompanies her grandmother to Italy on her annual buying trip, she steps back into time and her passion for the art of shoemaking deepens. While there, she also begins to question work/life balance and the importance of trying to achieve it all.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book! Valentine is a dynamic protagonist - she is pushed to taking her family business into the current century by financial pressures but then learns she has a real head for business and a true passion for the artistry of the craft of custom shoe design. I found myself rooting for her from the start whether in her struggles with the business or her relationship with the complicated and ambitious Roman Falconi. When she traveled to Italy (a dream of mine!) and observed how much Italians value work/life balance, I found I really related to her desire for a slower pace. This quote, spoken by Valentine, certainly gives me pause,

"You [her Italian friend] live a balanced life. You work, you eat, you rest. We don't. We can't. We live as though we have something to prove. There's never enough time, we eat on the run, and we sleep as little as possible. We believe the one who works the hardest wins."

What I really love about this book, however, is the boisterous Roncalli clan and the vivid descriptions of both New York City and Italy (especially the scenes in Isle of Capri). In addition to their matriarch, Gram, the Roncalli clan includes Valentine's two sisters, Tess and Jaclyn, her brother Alfred, her funny, larger than life mother and her drily humorous Dad. Despite their bickering and the fact that are all involved in each other's lives, their love for each other and the value they place on family is clear. Although not nearly as boisterous (or boisterous at all for that matter!), my family also places a lot of importance on pulling together and being there for each other above all so I could relate to Valentine's involvement with and true affection for her family.

The Roncalli's are from Queens, which is where I grew up, and I enjoyed all the references to local spots in the neighborhood including Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills and Leonard's of Great Neck (I attended a prom there!) If I didn't know that author grew up in SW Virginia, I would think she hailed from Queens - her references were spot on! The level of detail she provides about locales - Queens, Italy, The West Village - really add to the novel and serve to draw the reader even further into her story.

This was one of those books where I was dreading the end because I didn't want to leave the characters or the life the author had created. Fortunately, this is the first in a 3 book series and I was able to quickly move on to the 2nd book Brava, Valentine (review will be posted soon) but it will be a long wait for the 3rd book due to come out in February 2010. If you want a little more from the author in the meantime, check out her website, or listen to her interview with Book Club Girl on Blog Talk Radio where she talks about Very Valentine.

I received this book for review from TLC Book Tours; although the author is orignally from SW VA, she currently lives in NYC and her book is decidedly set in NYC so this review meets the criteria for the Literary Road Trip

Review: New World Monkeys by Nancy Mauro

New World Monkeys: A Novel by Nancy Mauro tells the story of a young couple (Duncan and Lily), married for 5 years, who head to upstate NY one summer in an effort (although this is never stated directly) to salvage their troubled marriage. A series of bizarre events unfold including the killing of a wild boar, Lily's friendship with a Peeping Tom and the couple's archeological dig of their backyard to unearth the body of the nanny that abducted Lily's great-grandfather. Hmm . . . sounds like a lot is going on but the main plot, that of the couple and the slow unraveling of their marriage, moves slowly with little to no progress. That seems intentional - there is no action in that plot because the couple is really examining the state of their marriage, themselves and how they relate to each other against the backdrop of the crazy townspeople lusting for revenge for the killing of the wild boar, the bones in the backyard and the revelations from the Peeping Tom.

I really like the author's style of writing - it is smart and witty with sentences that are crafted, not just written. In fact, Carolyn See in her review of the book for the Washington Post , said the book belonged to a sub-genre that is rare these days, "Educated-Women's Lit" - I think that is a great way to describe a genre for this book. Although I appreciated the smart writing style and dry humor in the book, I did get frustrated with the characters, especially Lily. She seemed supercilious and invulnerable and once she befriended Llyod, the Peeping Tom, and began partaking in his perverted afternoon adventures, she lost me. I found I cared more about her husband, Duncan, and his struggles in the ad business including his insecurities about not being smart or successful enough. But I never found myself caring much about either of them as much as I cared about their examination of their marriage - this novel isn't really about the characters but about the marriage and its fate. The narrative is so smart that is almost makes up for the fact that the characters are not really the main stars of the novel.

I read this book for an upcoming book club meeting for Hardcovers and Highballs - our meeting is Feb 3rd and the author will be present. I am looking forward to discussing the book with her and learning more about her perspectives on Lily and Duncan and their marriage. I will post an update after our meeting and share what I learn.

Nancy Mauro is Canadian but has worked at an ad agency in NY and now lives in Manhattan. I am spotlighting her for the Literary Road Trip

Literary Road Trip pulls into NYC

Michelle at Galleysmith hosts the Literary Road Trip where book bloggers volunteer to showcase local authors. Each blogger takes a state/city/country and posts reviews, interviews etc with authors from that locale. There are still many states with no representation - if you would like to join in, head over to this page and sign-up. Even if you don't sign-up as a "stop" on the trip - definitely check-in on some of the stops to see which authors are being spotlighted!

I live (and was raised in) NYC so, to be honest, I have it pretty easy in terms of identifying authors for the Road Trip. There are a bevy of authors from or currently living in NYC. I will try, however, to shine a light on those that may be lesser known. If you are an author from NYC (or the publisher of a NYC author), I would love to spotlight you on my literary road trip stop so please contact me (leenbeen2001 (at) yahoo (dot) com).

Without further ado, my first spotlight is Spoiled: Stories by Caitlin Macy. Macy is a graduate of Yale and received her MFA from Columbia. She currently lives in NYC with her family. You can read more about her and her first book, The Fundamentals of Play: A Novel, at her website.

From the Publisher:

Caitlin Macy’s debut novel The Fundamentals of Play was heralded as a Gatsbyesque examination of love and class in Manhattan. Now, in her sophisticated and provocative story collection Spoiled, Macy turns her unsparing eye on affluent and educated women who nevertheless struggle to keep their footing in their relationships and life.

In “Annabel’s Mother,” a young woman does a good deed for her nanny, only to have it go horribly wrong. “Bait and Switch” chronicles a lifelong rivalry between two sisters. A self-made woman struggles to gain the upper hand with her comically self-assured cleaning woman in “The Red Coat.” And in “Taroudant,” a newly married woman desperate for authentic experience makes a rash decision to leave the grounds of her Moroccan luxury hotel.

Macy’s voice is as straightforward as it is original in these stories, and her characters deftly nuanced. Full of surprising, sometimes shocking insights and simmering with outrage, compassion, and humor, Spoiled is a remarkable collection from a boldly talented writer.

My Review:

I read Spoiled a number of months ago for a book club - although there were stories in the collection that left me flat, overall the collection was very good. Each story had a message and prompted you to stop and think. The author, Caitlin Macy, actually attended our book club and had a great discussion with the group about her motivation for different stories, writing process and background. The discussion really added a lot of color to the stories and made me appreciate them even more.

This collection of short stories provides an insightful look at those in society who are "privileged" - no matter how recently that privilege was acquired. Caitlin Macy observantly explores issues of class and how it motivates us in this concise collection of stories. As much as you may not want to, I think most readers will recognize themselves in at least one of the characters. Worthwhile read!