Rococo

May 30, 2005
Bestseller Trigiani (Lucia, Lucia
) offers Italian recipes, family dramas and oodles of decorating ideas (if little narrative tension) in her latest novel, a feel-good story about a New Jersey interior designer tackling his dream job. In Our Lady of Fatima, N.J., plucky narrator Bartolomeo di Crespi, aka B, reigns supreme: he can doll up an ottoman with kicky trim and sparkly crystals with the best of 'em, and he decorates all the area's best houses, including the manse belonging to the mother of his putative fiancée, Capri Mandelbaum. (Really they're just friends, but Aurelia, Capri's mother, is certain they'll marry.) When the local church comes due for a major renovation, B gets the commission, after Father Porporino is convinced (forcibly, it's later revealed) that a tony Philadelphia firm won't do. But can B come up with a timeless yet innovative design for the church he loves? He calls in the experts—all of them sexy—takes trips to London and Italy, and benefits from a minor miracle amid a cast of family and friends who fight, fall in love, have babies and come out of the closet. While overlong and undramatic, the book still manages to soothe, in part because of its cozy design talk and in part because of the likable, competent B.

February 1, 2005
Look what happens when a gorgeous hunk of a painter blows into town to restore Our Lady of Fatima church. With a ten-city tour.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
With what level of seriousness can any reader accept a main character, Bartolomeo di Crespi, head of the House of Beauty, who's positioned as the town decorator for Our Lady of Fatima in New Jersey? On the other hand, it is truly a rollicking read, from Bart's mission/vision to redo the local church to his discovery of a genuine Modigliani statue that saves the job's finance after a wealthy local donor pulls the financial plug. The comic prose itself deserves applause; think of a cat described as an "oversized fuzzy slipper with eyes." Or Bart's former fiancee, Capri Mandelbaum, as a "40 year old green banana." All in good fun by the author of " Lucia, Lucia" (2003) and " The Queen of the Big Time" (2005).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)