Very Valentine

November 3, 2008
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: “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.

Trigiani's latest will appeal to fans of "Sex in the City"--here given an Italian twist. Thirty-three-year-old Valentine is caught between her life-long passion to pursue the family business of high-end handcrafted shoe design and production and a romance she can't help feeling may be her last. Cassandra Campbell's vocals are strong, at times mesmerizing, gliding effortlessly in and out of Italian phrases as Valentine travels from her New York neighborhood to Tuscany, Naples, and Capri, following the roots of her family and their business. Campbell gives each character a unique vocal persona, making it a cinch to keep this vast array of friends and relatives easily identifiable. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine