" I don't regret anything that's happened to me...I wish that I had reacted differently to some of the events. I let things get me down...I believed I could somehow control the bad things...things turn around when they're meant to."
Lucia, a working girl from Greenwich Village, has big dreams for her career in Bonwitt Teller's Custom Department. She won't anyone hold her back. Especially her future mother-in-law!
Then, she meets John Talbot, so soave and debonair. She "loved he way John looked, the places he took (her) and the life he promised", but it was all on the surface... ( )

It's not like this book didn't have some things going for it - - loved the 50's New York setting, and I also enjoyed the free flowing, easy reading writing style. But, I just don't really enjoy books like this one as a general rule. It's just a little too trite and unoriginal. There's a lot of descriptions of food (which I enjoy) and clothes (which I don't).

The plot revolves around Lucia, a high end, beautiful seamstress at B'Altman's who still lives at home with her large Italian family. The suspense is - - will Lucia get married and to whom? She's more of a career-oriented woman in a time where that wasn't the norm. She's a very likeable character so I was drawn into the story of her love life, but it's just a very straightforward tale, and there's nothing about it - not the writing, not the story, nothing, that elevates it. Her decision making is highly questionable, and that's the part that basically creates the most entertainment.

Romance really isn't my thing when it comes to a reading choice, and so honestly, I'm not sure I'm a good person to review a book like this one. I think many people would find it to be a lovely summer read . . . ( )

I give it three and a half stars. Adriana Trigiani is becoming one of my favorite authors. ( )

An Italian family story set in New York in the 1950's. A lovely story to read - with some very poignant moments - not all happy. ( )

A librarian friend of mine recommended this one to me, otherwise I might not have finished it. I HATE first person present tense as the dominant perspective for novels. If the story is really good (as in The Hunger Games series) after a while you forget that the storytelling is in such an uncomfortable voice, and just get into the story. In this book, though, the story is pretty dull until almost the end of the book. In addition the protagonist's family is traditional Italian and very sexist, so while being already unhappy with the storytelling style, I was also really annoyed at the characters and situations. I got the sense that this book was intended to take on some of the traditional sexism of the 1950's and of Old World traditional families, so some of my irritation was likely an intended outcome, but in any case I did not enjoy this book and would not recommend it. I might try other books by this author, since my friend was so thrilled with her books, but I'm not optimistic. ( )