Summer is coming to an end, but luckily books from the Concord Public Library are great any time of year! For more information about the library, visit concordpubliclibrary.net.
Very Valentine
Very Valentine
Adriana Trigiani
367 pages
Setting: Present day
Valentine Roncalli works with her grandmother to make one-of-a-kind wedding shoes for brides in their family shop, Angelini Shoes. The Angelini Shoe Company has been in business since the early 1900s, in a now-fashionable part of Manhattan. But Gram made some financial mistakes, and now they can’t pay the mortgage. Valentine’s brother wants to sell the building and close the business. Valentine is juggling a new romance and a family crisis, but is determined to become a master shoe designer and to keep the company running.
This fun novel is filled with great characters, especially the ones in Valentine’s large, boisterous Italian family. It also has wonderful locations, (a trip to Italy!), and Trigiani adds interesting details about the art of making handmade shoes. Trigiani’s grandfather was a shoemaker and she dedicates this book to him.