Helpful Score: 3
Clever and enjoyable portrayal of Italian family life, and a thorough explanation of the craft of shoe-making, but the main character is silly and the book is stuffed with dreadful similes and metaphors, almost as if the author dipped blindly into a box for random selections rather than make the effort to create a simple and succinct description. What were the editors thinking, or were they?
Helpful Score: 1
Trigiani has written several books that I really adored. This one was a little disappointing. I thought her descriptions of the big Italian family was fun and reminded me of "MY Big Fat Greek Wedding." However, Valentine was not as lovable a main character as she usually creates and I am not dying to read the next installment as I was in the Big Stone Gap series. A good enough read, but not up to the quality of her first books.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent read! Loved the characters - you really get sucked into the story and the details.
Very enjoyable book. Really gave me the feeling of an Italian lifestyle. Normal ups and downs of life drew me in. Hard to put down. Follow up book tied up all of the loose ends. 4 star.
