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.
