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Adriana Trigiani's bestselling novels are beloved by millions of readers around the world. From the Big Stone Gap series to Lucia, Lucia, each is a sumptuous treat as Trigiani tells hilarious and romantic stories that we want to return to again and again.
Very Valentine, an instant New York Times bestseller, introduced the contemporary family saga of the Roncalli and Angelini families, artisans of handcrafted wedding shoes in Greenwich Village since 1903.
As Brava, Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, and longtime love, Dominic. Valentine's dreams are dashed when Gram announces that Alfred, "the prince," Valentine's only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner who made his romantic intentions known on the Isle of Capri. Despite their passion for one another and Gianluca's heartfelt letters, a long-distance relationship seems impossible.
As Valentine turns away from romance and devotes herself to her work, mentor and pattern cutter June Lawton guides her through her power struggle with Alfred, while best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi moves into 166 Perry Street, transforming her home and point of view. Savvy financier Bret Fitzpatrick, Valentine's first love and former fiancée who still carries a torch for her, encourages Valentine to exploit her full potential as a designer and a business woman with a plan that will bring her singular creations to the world.
A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roncallis and Valentine is determined to hold her family together. More so, she longs to create one of her own, but is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her.
Brava, Valentine, Trigiani's best novel yet, delivers a hilarious and poignant mix of colorful worlds and unforgettable characters as only she can create them.
“Trigiani’s endearing heroine, Valentine, struggles to balance her life as a shoe designer with her love life. A smart chick-lit read.”
Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. The author of the bestselling Big Stone Gap series, Very Valentine; Brava, Valentine; Lucia, Lucia; The Queen of the Big Time; andRococo, she has also written the best-selling memoir Don't Sing at the Table as well as the young adult novels Viola in Reel Life and Viola in the Spotlight. Her books have been published in 36 countries around the world. She has written and will direct the big screen version of her first novel, Big Stone Gap. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
The author, by contrast, has lived most of her adult life in New York City. After graduating from college with a theater degree, she moved to the city and began writing and directing plays (her day jobs included cook, nanny, house cleaner and office temp). In 1988, she was tapped to write for the Cosby Show spinoff A Different World, and spent the following decade working in television and film. When she presented her friend and agent Suzanne Gluck with a screenplay about Big Stone Gap, Gluck suggested she turn it into a novel.
The result was an instant bestseller that won praise from fellow writers along with kudos from celebrities (Whoopi Goldberg is a fan). It was followed by Big Cherry Holler and Milk Glass Moon, which chronicle the further adventures of Ave Maria through marriage and motherhood. People magazine called them "Delightfully quirky... chock full of engaging, oddball characters and unexpected plot twists."
Critics sometimes reach for food imagery to describe Trigiani's books, which have been called "mouthwatering as fried chicken and biscuits" (USA Today) and "comforting as a mug of tea on a rainy Sunday" (The New York Times Book Review). Food and cooking play a big role in the lives of Trigiani's heroines and their families: Lucia, Lucia, about a seamstress in Greenwich Village in the 1950s, and The Queen of the Big Time, set in an Italian-American community in Pennsylvania, both feature recipes from Trigiani's grandmothers. She and her sisters have even co-written a cookbook called, appropriately enough, Cooking With My Sisters: One Hundred Years of Family Recipes, from Bari to Big Stone Gap. It's peppered with anecdotes, photos and family history. What it doesn't have: low-carb recipes. "An Italian girl can only go so long without pasta," Trigiani quipped in an interview on GoTriCities.com.
Her heroines are also ardent readers, so it comes as no surprise that book groups love Adriana Trigiani. And she loves them right back. She's chatted with scores of them on the phone, and her Web site includes photos of women gathered together in living rooms and restaurants across the country, waving Italian flags and copies of Lucia, Lucia.
Trigiani, a disciplined writer whose schedule for writing her first novel included stints from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. each morning, is determined not to disappoint her fans. So far, she's produced a new novel each year since the publication of Big Stone Gap.
"I don't take any of it for granted, not for one second, because I know how hard this is to catch with your public," she said in an interview with The Independent. "I don't look at my public as a group; I look at them like individuals, so if a reader writes and says, 'I don't like this,' or, 'This bit stinks,' I take it to heart."
"I appeared on the game show Kiddie Kollege on WCYB-TV in Bristol, Virginia, when I was in the third grade. I missed every question. It was humiliating."
"I have held the following jobs: office temp, ticket seller in movie theatre, cook in restaurant, nanny, and phone installer at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. In the writing world, I have been a playwright, television writer/producer, documentary writer/director, and now novelist."
"I love rhinestones, faux jewelry. I bought a pair of pearl studded clip on earrings from a blanket on the street when I first moved to New York for a dollar. They turned out to be a pair designed by Elsa Schiaparelli. Now, they are costume, but they are still Schiaps! Always shop in the street -- treasures aplenty."
"Dear readers, I like you. I am so grateful that you read and enjoy my books. I never forget that -- or you -- when I am working. I am also indebted to the booksellers who read the advanced reader's editions and write to me and say, "I'm gonna hand-sell this one." That always makes me jump for joy. I love the people at my publishing house. Smart. Funny, and I like it when they're slightly nervous because that means they care. The people I have met since I started writing books have been amazing on every level -- and why not? You're readers. And for someone to take reading seriously means that you are seeking knowledge. Yes, reading is fun, but it is also an indication of a serious-minded person who values imagination and ideas and, dare I say it, art. I never thought in a million years when I was growing up in Big Stone Gap that I would be writing this to you today. Books have always been sacred to me -- important, critical, fundamental -- and a celebration of language and words. And authors! When I was little, I didn't play Old Maid, I played authors. They had cards with the famous authors on them. Now, granted, they didn't look like movie stars, but I loved what they wrote and had to say. I can boil this all down to one thing: I love to tell stories -- and I love to hear them. I didn't think there was a job in the world where I would get to do both, and now thank God, I've found it."
Brava, Valentine
A Novel
Chapter One
Shake Down the Stars
The most magical thing happened on the morning of my grandmother's wedding in Tuscany. It snowed.
This is definitely Italian snow, not the New York City variety of midwinter precipitation. It doesn't fall in big, chunky flakes, nor is it heavy February hail that stings faces and turns sidewalks into solid sheets of ice. Rather, this is a flurry of white glitter that sifts through the air and melts instantly when it lands on the stone streets.
From my window at the Spolti Inn, it seems the entire village of Arezzo is swathed in a lace bridal veil. I sip hot milk and espresso from a warm mug as I watch an old horse-drawn carriage pull up in front of the inn to take us to the church. It doesn't feel like 2010. It could easily be a hundred years ago, not a modern touch in sight. Time stands still when people are happy. The ticking of real time resumes as soon as the rings are exchanged—for all of us.
Gram and Dominic's wedding plans were made quickly and effortlessly (the beauty of an eighty-year-old bride is that she really knows what she does and doesn't want). The airline tickets were bought online after a series of negotiations that eventually led to the splendid group rate that brought the Angelini and Roncalli families to this Italian village, into this moment, this morning.
We've all got roles in this romantic tale. The great-granddaughters are flower girls and the great-grandsons miniature groomsmen. My sisters Tess and Jaclyn and I are bridesmaids, as is our sister-in-law Pamela, while my mother is matron of honor. Dominic's granddaughter Orsola will represent his side of the family in the bridal party. My father will walk his mother-in-law down the aisle and into the arms of Dominic Vechiarelli.
"It snowed that day," I imagine I'll tell my children. I'll explain that after ten years as a widow, my grandmother found love again. Teodora Angelini's story relies on fate, timing, and the best of luck. It's also a story filled with hope—reminding all of us who haven't found love that, regardless of age, experience, or locale, it's a bad idea to close the book before "The End." You just never know. Not one of us, not even the bride, saw this day coming.
"Somebody shoot me!" my mother shouts from the hallway.
"My hair is a wet mop!"
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Mike. We're in a freakin' hotel. Pipe down," I hear my father bark back.
"Do you have to yell?" Tess hollers from her room. "Why does this family always have to yell?" she yells.
"Shh. You'll wake the bay-bee!" Jaclyn whisper-shouts from her doorway.
My door bursts open. My mother stands in her full black slip with her hands on her hips. "I blew out my flatiron," she announces. A flatiron blowout in my family is worse than finding a lump. And we have found our share of lumps.
Mom's face is made up, alabaster-perfect and powdered down, ready for photographs from all angles. Her fake eyelashes give her enough oomph to pass as one of Beyoncé's backup singers. Her cheeks have a peachy Bobbi Brown glow, but that's all that's sparkling about my mother. She's beyond frazzled and close to tears.
"What's the matter, Ma? You're not yourself."
"You noticed?"
"What can I do to help?"
"I don't know. I'm just a-a-a.. . mess." She plops down on my bed. Half of her head is done, straight, glossy strands of freshly dyed chestnut brown, and the other half is still damp and crimped. Mom has naturally curly hair, but you would never know it from her left profile. From the front, however, she looks like a split-screen hair model on the Home Shopping Network: before and after the anti-frizz cream has been applied. She smoothes the front panels of her black slip over her thighs and pulls the hem over her knees.
I sit down next to her. "What's the problem?"
"Where do I begin?" Her eyes fill with tears. She pulls a tissue from under her slip strap and dabs the inner corners of her eyes so as not to irrigate the eyelash glue and cause the mink spikes to float away in her tears like paper canoes down the Nile.
"You look great."
"Do I?" The tears insta-dry in my mother's eyes, and she sits up straight. All it takes is a compliment to pull my mother back to her emotional center.
"Like a million bucks," I promise her.
"I brought my Clarisonic. So at least I'm exfoliated. That didn't blow in the outlet, thank God."
"Thank God."
"I don't know, Valentine. I just don't know. I'm completely off my game. I'm shaking. Look." Mom holds up her hand. It flutters partly from nerves, and partly because she's making it flutter. "This is so strange to me. To be a maid of honor at my own mother's wedding."
"Matron," I correct her. "The last over-sixty maid of anything was Mother Teresa."
Mom ignores the comment. She continues, "There's something so out of kilter about this whole thing."
"Gram is happy."
"Yes, yes, and I've adjusted to all of it! It began with the news that my mother, eighty years young, fell in love. Then once I swallowed that, she decided to marry. I accepted her decision. Then she announces that not only will she become Dominic's bride, she has decided to move to Italy. For good. It's been a series of whammies, I'll admit it. One beaut after another, I'll tell ya. But I survived the shock of each little bomb she dropped and put aside my doubts and misgivings and went with it. Don't I always go with the flow?"
Brava, Valentineimarose
Posted December 29, 2009
......and I thought it couldn't get any better! VERY VALENTINE, this trilogy's first installment was definitely five stars-good but BRAVA, VALENTINE is at least a 7-plus-er!
Valentine Roncalli, "Angelini Shoes since 1903" entrepreneur crawls, walks and sometimes runs through life in Greenwich Village, Tuscany and Argentina. Along the way
life is interesting, insightful and entertaining. Her strong desire to survive in her chosen,
handed down career propels her to branch out into mass shoe production from her custom made wedding shoes line. In this novel Ms. Trigiani presents us with a multi-dimensional work of art similar to Val's shoes designs.
As in her other novels, or perhaps more so in this one, poetry abounds in this author's
description of everything we read except for the hilarious dialogue that goes on between the colorful characters in Val's life.
With a long lost cousin rediscovered in Buenos Aires intrigue is interjected in the story
line.
An affair and two potential divorces and Clickety Click's rant - or is it Cluckety Clack"? we have dra-ma! Adding to that is June, a treasured long time employee who
has at it with her direct assessment of the Roncalli family. She swings with both fists!
80 year old Gram's wedding in Tuscany to her long time love, Dominic, would have been relatively uneventful if not for her sister the lush, Aunt Feen.
We are privvy to Valentine's past love, Bret and to Valentina's present love, Gianluca. All things considered life would be easier with her "husband" Gabe who's a great decorator and cook and more importantly a trusted confidant. Gianluca is European but
unprogressive though maybe he's gettin' with it - he acquired a Blackberry the last time I looked. I'm not giving my blessing if she chooses Gianluca since he is old world
schooled and she is young, progressive, determined and focused. The ring is lovely but it's not too late to say, "No"!
When a man loses his job he becomes "nicer" and more cooperative it seems. Alfred, Val's brother and new business partner is no longer the domineering know-it-all. He's now an asset to the business but maybe not to himself.
I've said enough here and recommend you read BRAVA, VALENTINE for yourself. Trust
me, you'll love it!
8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I read the first Valentine book and couldn't wait to start Brava Valentine. It did not disapoint. I was laughing out loud and then a few pages crying real tears. The characters are wonderful. I miss them already
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 28, 2011
If you are a fan of Adriana Trigiani, this book will not disappoint! Everything she writes is rich, engaging and lovely to read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SimplyHappy
Posted July 30, 2010
I couldn't put this or Very Valentine down. These are amazing books and Adriana Trigiani is an amazing author!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 19, 2010
I Also Recommend:
Who doesn't love the Roncalli and Angelini families? I was thrilled to find their return in Adriana Trigiani's new book, "Brava Valentine" and to wrap up some of the unfinished story lines from her preceding book, "Very Valentine".
What a treat to go to Gram's lovely wedding in Tuscany, then back through the streets of Greenwich Village and Little Italy, and back again to the gorgeous Isle of Capri, and even an unexpected visit to Buenos Aires. You'll feel as if you just returned from an international travel adventure of your own with old friends and some new ones and your very own romance with GianLuca, the old school romantic that could only exist in a novel like this!
You'll grow attached to this family and roll with laughter over the colorful dialogue and hilarious holiday situations. It's not all a fairy-tale though - you'll shed a tear or two as the family faces some of their own challenges and obstacles, love is challenged, and loss is encountered.
You'll gasp, cry, and cheer out loud! You'll root for you favorite characters and their relationships. And if you're like me, you'll chant, "Bravo!" in the end. BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! This book will not disappoint. Highly recommended. Can't wait for the third book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 25, 2011
I was not so crazy for the first book Very Valentine. Though I love all Ms. Trigiani's other books, especially Lucia Lucia. Brava Valentine was much more enjoyable. Ms. Trigiani developed Valentine much better in the second book. Valentine had more character and was much more interesting. She brought out the the brother Alfred more and less on the grandmother. Great interest with the lost family in Argentina. Thought was very interesting how Ms. Trigiani showed the prejudices of some members of her family. The second trilogy was much more interesting than the first book. Can't wait to see what happens next with Gianaluca. Also, I love her gay friend. Was sad to see what happened to June. Funny Thanksgiving scene.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Personally, I thought this sequel to Very Valentine was better than the first....I thought the main character (Valentine) brought a lot more insight into her developing character this time, and was sorry to see it end. I, too, hope there is a third novel installment.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.sue_c
Posted August 31, 2010
I enjoy all of Adriana's books. She has done a lot of research in the making of shoes for both of the "Valentine" books. She has a special way of touching the human heart, with Grandma's marriage, and Valentine's struggle to find herself. I hated to see the story end.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 20, 2010
I loved this book, being of Italian American dissent, I could relate to this family. I read Brava Valentine first, now I'm reading Very Valentine. Love them both, can't wait for the third installment.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Welcome back to the bosom of the Roncalli's and to the Angelini Shoe Company. We start out in Italy where gram (Teodora) is getting married, and a miracle happened, it snowed, which rarely happens in Tuscany. But the good luck stops there when Teodora announces that Valentine's older brother and nemesis, Alfred will be partnering with her in the new era of Angelini Shoes. Life has a way of vomiting all over Valentine and this latest installation of her life under the microscope is no different. There are changes coming for Valentine, some good, some not so good.
Adriana's second in the series of Valentine Roncalli will wow you. I think it's even better than the first, maybe because we already know the major players and are comfortable in the knowing. Her plot for this episode of the perils of Valentine is classic family drama but it's the way she tells it that makes it such a joy to read and experience. And you will experience it, with her unique form of entertaining and description her dialogue will effortlessly take you from the hills of Tuscany to the Island of Manhattan where she will captivate you with her amazing ability to make you laugh, cry and just simply participate in the lives of these amazing life like characters. And let's talk about her characters, we go from the bold and the beautiful to the bizarre and from the meek to the boisterous as she intimates us to them. And it's very obvious that she knows these people well by the way she makes them come to life for her readers. This is a love story as well as a dramatic piece of literary fiction and she handles the love scenes with finesse and charm.
This is a must read on anyone's list who enjoys big time family spectacles, for anyone who enjoys going from tears to laughter in an instant and anyone who love well written fiction.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2010
I love Adriana Trigiani but something was missing from this book. It almost seemed as if she rushed the ending and skipped over parts to finish sooner. I'm assuming there will be another Valentine book to follow but Brava Valentine shouldn't have been rushed. The book was fun and lighthearted and if you are a Trigiani fan, worth the read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I must admit first off Adriana Trigiani is my favorite author with my heart belonging to Lucia Lucia, but this reminds me so much of that book its a very close second!!! I was so excited to read this book once I got into the first chapter I couldn't put it down but did not want to rush through and for the story to end. I think its the romance and the letters throughout that had me gushing over the characters. Such a great read, love the family, love the story, love, Love, LOVE IT!!!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Signora_Conte
Posted May 5, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I loved how the author tied in her heritage with beautiful imagery of Italy and Italian people. She gave me a view of the passion that goes with great craftsmanship.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.nanatFL
Posted May 5, 2010
Found this to be a good read for a rainy day or a rerun night on tv. enjoyed it very much. It was the first time i have read this author and looking forward for many more
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I loveed Very Valentine, but Brava Valentine was kind of a rehash of the original. Kind of a continuation without the character development. It was entertaining though.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 14, 2010
This book is missing something, a lot. It lacks depth and meaning. Seemed rushed as the story and characters were severely underdeveloped. This feels like a placeholder for the third book and quite frankly commercial. Very disappointed. I was very much looking forward to the sequel as I loved "Very Valentine" and all of Ms. Trigiani's book. I have given several of them as gifts and am always hoping to discover a book I haven't yet read. Is this the last Adriana Trigiani book I read? Could be.
I think the sequel is riding the coat tails of "Very Valentine" and all of the other books. Sorry, this isn't worth the praise, attention or the read. I couldn't wait to find out what was next for Valentine, but I feel that reading the book didn't take us into Valentine's life, rather it was just an update that we could have gotten from reading a summary of the book. Unlike all of the preceding books, this book doesn't draw you into the characters or the story. There's no connection. I am no longer interested in Valentine's story.
Get back to basics - focus on the books and not the screen plays.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.LouiseJolly
Posted January 13, 2010
I Also Recommend:
Only Adriana Trigiani can write a story as eloquent and real as Brava, Valentine. In this sequel to 'Very Valentine' the fun continues with the Roncalli and Angelini families who capture life in all its good and bad and brings together family, friends and lovers into the open and transports the reader into the pages and melts them into the words on the page.
In the opening Teodora, Valentine's 80-year-old beloved Grandmother, marries her long time love, Dominic under the beautiful Tuscan sun. Following the wedding nuptials, Teodora drops the bombshell on Valentine that she has named Alfred, Valentine's only brother, as her new partner in the Angelini Shoe Company. Distraught and overcome with shock, Valentine turns to the sexy tanner Gianluca for comfort but soon realizes that a long distance romance between Italy and Greenwich Village will never work out and returns home to Greenwich Village.
Once home, Valentine allows her best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi to move in with her at the Shoe Company. Gabriel systematically begins to transform the home he's now sharing with Valentine into something resembling a home show photo shoot.
In the meantime, Valentine flies off to South America to meet a cousin she'd never met before who owns and operates a shoe factory. While there she uncovers a long buried family secret that once revealed threatens to rip apart the Roncalli family, a family already adept at the game of argument. No one family is as skilled at arguing as the Roncalli's. Is this secret going to tear this family apart once and for all?
This novel is like opening a box of chocolates then sitting down and savouring each and every single morsel. I can't wait for the next instalment!
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 8, 2013
I laughed so hard for the first few chapters. Then it got slow, mundane, a little boring. It was just alright, not as great as others rated it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Read-alot
Posted March 29, 2013
This book was very romantic and very funny. The family members are hilarious. I learned a lot about making shoes also. I don't want to mention too much so I won't spoil it, but It is funnier than Very Valentine. Both are good reads. Enjoy.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 20, 2013
Highly recommend. I found it amusing,interesting and a must read especially if you are familiar with Italian families. Couldn't wait to read the sequel.
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Overview
Adriana Trigiani's bestselling novels are beloved by millions of readers around the world. From the Big Stone Gap series to Lucia, Lucia, each is a sumptuous treat as Trigiani tells hilarious and romantic stories that we want to return to again and again.
Very Valentine, an instant New York Times bestseller, introduced the contemporary family saga of the Roncalli and Angelini families, artisans of handcrafted wedding shoes in Greenwich Village ...