Adriana Trigiani writes the kinds of stories I really enjoy – books about family and relationships. Her pride in her Italian heritage and her deep sense of family values and integrity shines through in all her novels.
But never more so that in The Shoemaker’s Wife, her latest novel which is based on the true love story of her grandparents.
Enza Ravinelli and Ciro Lazarotti grow up in an idyllic mountain village in northern Italy in the early days of the 20th century, where they meet when Ciro is hired to dig the grave for Enza’s beloved baby sister. There is an instant bond between them, but fate seems determined to keep them apart. The two young people immigrate to American (separately), and although their paths continue to cross something always keeps them from getting together.
I am so enjoying getting to know these two people, and getting this glimpse of life in American in those days pre and post WWI. It was an amazing time for many people who care here from different countries and suddenly had so many opportunities available for them. Though Enza and Ciro had both hoped to stay in American just long enough to earn enough money to build a better life in Italy, American soon became more home to them than even the village they had loved so much.
This is a great story on many levels, and even though I’m pretty sure they’ll get together in the end, I’m eagerly reading to see what happens in between.
Bookstack 
I was given a copy of the first book Trigiani wrote pre-publication and enjoyed it very much, but for some reason I’ve never gone back to her. Thank you for reminding me of an author I’ve left unread for too long.
Alex, I enjoy her books on audio. One of my favorites was Lucia, Lucia, which also has some hints of her grandmother’s life story.