The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigian

The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani

Published by Dutton ISBN 9780593183359

Hardcover, $29, 416 pages

Nothing brings me greater joy than a new book from Adriana Trigiani, and her newest romantic comedy, The View From Lake Como (publishing July 8th), has all the elements that made her a favorite of mine.

Jess Baratta finds herself living in her parents basement (which doubles as a bonus kitchen and storage unit when "not housing someone old or newly divorced"). She left her husband Bobby after an unfulfilling short marriage, something her mother Philomena, Bobby, and Bobby's mother cannot comprehend.

Jess works for her Uncle Louie owner of Capodimonte Marble and Stone (family owned since 1924). Philomena is currently feuding with her brother and will not speak to him, which makes Sunday family dinners interesting. 

Now that Jess is back home, unmarried and childless (unlike her older sister and brother), she finds her role in the family carved in marble- she is cook, maid, babysitter, and driver. She will transition to nurse and caregiver as her parents age, like the maiden Aunt Giuseppina whom she was named after. I liked what the author had to say about how we can get stuck in our family roles, anyone from a large family will be able to relate to that.

When Uncle Louie tells Jess that she is going with him to Italy to meet with marble manufacturers, Jess is beyond thrilled. This is a dream come true for her! But fate intervenes and Jess now has to deal with  things she never imagined.

Adriana Trigiani writes such rich, fully developed characters. I loved how you always know what Philomena is thinking (whether you want to or not), and Uncle Louie is quite the snappy dresser who dotes on his wife and niece. The fact that keeps his Knights of Columbus tux and sword in his trunk because he is always going to wakes made me laugh out loud (and if you know, you know). 

Many of us would love to have grown up with both sets of grandparents and cousins on the same street, and the dinner and funeral buffet scenes in The View From Lake Como had me wishing I could pull up a chair and pass the ravioli. (No one writes a family dinner scene better than Adriana Trigiani!)

I also enjoyed learning about the marble artists in Italy. I know I will look more closely at the interior of churches after reading this novel. 

I loved The View from Lake Como, it's a perfect summer read to toss in your bag as you head to the beach. It will make you smile and laugh out loud at times as Jess attempts to find her place in this world and in her family. Whether you're from a large family or just wish you were, be sure to preorder your copy from your favorite bookseller today.

Captivating Fiction for March

Reposted from auburnpub.com

Last month's Book Report was filled with taut thrillers that kept you turning the page. This month we feature fiction that captures your heart and attention.

Nancy Johnson’s first book, The Kindest Lie was one of my favorite books from 2021. Her newest effort, People of Means is just as compelling and deals with timely topics in two different timelines.

In 1959, Freda leaves her home to attend Fisk University in Nashville. Freda’s parents met at Fisk, and her father is now a successful doctor while her mother volunteers for many charities in Chicago.

Freda is now faced with dealing up close with Jim Crow racism in Nashville, something she didn’t see much of back in her mostly Black suburban life in Chicago. While her father admonished her to keep her head down and concentrate on her studies, Freda meets Darius, a young man who becomes increasingly involved in the Civil Rights movement. 

Darius opens Freda’s eyes up to the injustices they face, and Freda must make a choice between keeping to studies following her father’s wishes to make a success of her career, and fighting the injustice she sees every day.

In 1992, Freda’s daughter Tulip faces a similar battle. Tulip has a good job in public relations, but deals with micro aggressions and workplace politics every day. After the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, Tulip struggles with her feelings about the racial injustices in her world, and must decide whether to work to fight that or keep her head down and work hard to become a success in the business world as her father would like. 

Both Tulip and Freda faced a similar struggle decades apart, will Tulip follow her mother’s example? People of Means is a thought-provoking novel that resonates with issues today.

Lauren Willig’s brilliant new historical novel The Girl From Greenwich Street fictionalizes a real-life murder mystery from 1800 New York City. When young Elma Sands tells her cousin that she is leaving to get married, she is soon found dead in the bottom of a well and suspicion falls to Levi Weeks, the man she claimed she was to marry. 

Levi says he was not planning on marrying Elma and he did not see her the night she disappeared. Elma’s family insists that Levi be arrested, and Levi’s brother hires him a lawyer- Aaron Burr. 

As everyone knows from Hamilton- the Musical, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had an intense rivalry. Alexander Hamilton works in his way onto the defense team for Levi Weeks, where he clashes with Burr on strategy. 

The Girl From Greenwich Street is a fascinating novel, filled with intriguing characters and a  compelling storyline. Willig drops the reader right into 1800 New York City, and you feel like you are right there watching the action as it happens. 

Just as interesting as Willig’s novel is the Historical Note at the end. It will have you going down a rabbit hole to learn more about this historical event. 

Nickolas Butler’s A Forty Year Kiss tells the story of Charlie and Vivian. They married forty years ago and divorced after four years because of Charlie’s drinking and temper. 

Charlie moves away and has a career in the railroad, while Vivian still lives in Wisconsin. When Charlie moves back home, he finds Vivian on Facebook and asks to meet her again.

They slowly reconnect, with Charlie hoping to make more a permanent relationship with Vivian. But Vivian isn’t sure that Charlie has changed. Time hasn’t been kind to Vivian, she never had a successful career, and lives with her adult daughter who works multiple jobs to support her two children.

Readers will relate to Vivian and her love for her grandchildren whom she cares for, and hope that she and Charlie can find their way back to each other. It tugs at your heartstrings.

Linda Holmes charming new novel, Back After This tells the story of Cecily, who works as a producer for a small company that creates podcasts. The company is not doing well, and Cecily’s boss comes up with an idea to save them- a new podcast featuring the single-and-looking Cecily going on 20 first dates to find the perfect man, while being guided by a popular Instagram influencer. 

After Cecily reluctantly agrees to it, she keeps running into a handsome, charming man who’s perfect for her. But she can’t date him until after the podcast is over which is months away. What’s a girl to do? 

If you are podcast fan, you will enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Linda Holmes is a cohost of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour”. This is a breezy, sweet read. 

People of Means by Nancy Johnson-A

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $30, 357 pages

The Girl From Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig-A+

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $30, 352 pages

A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler- A

Published by Sourcebooks

Hardcover, $27.99, 322 pages

Back After This by Linda Holmes- A

Published by Ballantine Books

Hardcover, $28, 320 pages

Winter Is For Thrillers

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Winter Is For Thrillers

I’m not sure what it is about the winter months that has publishers releasing so many Mysteries and Thrillers- maybe the cold and dark atmosphere of the days? Whatever it is, there are several books out recently that will please fans of those genres.

True Crime is all over the media these days- popular podcasts, multi-part documentaries, and the three major networks with their popular 20/20, 48 Hours, Dateline series.  Stacy Horn’s 

The Killing Fields of East New York combines true crime with investigative journalism. 

East New York in Brooklyn was once a thriving tight-knit community in the 1960s. In 1968, President Johnson passed the Housing and Urban Development Act which was intended to help low-income families of color become homeowners. 

What actually happened was that banks, lenders, realtors, and corrupt city and Fair Housing Authority officials saw an opportunity to take advantage of the program and low-income people of color, which ended up decimating East New York. Their greed and white-collar criminal activity left East New York with abandoned buildings and empty lots. 

Horn details the steps that led to the largest series of mortgage fraud prosecutions in American history and destroyed a vibrant community, leaving poverty and violence in its wake. It’s a powerful read.

On the fiction side, Joseph Finder’s newest thriller is The Oligarch’s Daughter. Billed as a cross between “Succession” and “The Americans” , this heart-pounding book tells the story of Paul Brightman, who is hiding out in a small New England town under an assumed name.  

Six years prior, Paul was working on Wall Street when he fell in love with Tatyana, a photographer- and the daughter of a Russian oligarch, a fact she hid from Paul. Several U.S. intelligence agencies were interested in Tatyana’s father, which means they became interested in Paul as well- and so were the Russians.

When Russian operatives discover Paul in New England, he must go on the run and unravel a conspiracy with deep roots in the government. If spy novels are your go-to reads, 

The Oligarch’s Daughter should be on your To-Be-Read list.

Scott Turow brings back a favorite character from his earlier popular novels- former prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Presumed Innocent) returns in Presumed Guilty. Rusty is now 70 years old and living in rural Michigan with his younger soon-to-be wife Bea. 

Bea has a 20-something son Aaron, whom she and her previous husband adopted when he was a baby. Aaron lives with Bea and Rusty, and he spent some time in jail on a drug charge a few years back. 

Aaron has an on-again off-again relationship with Mae, a brilliant but troubled young woman. Mae has the ability to make everyone around her angry, including her parents and Aaron.

Aaron and Mae go “off the grid” camping to discuss getting married, they get into a fight, and Aaron takes Mae’s phone and hitchhikes home. When Mae doesn’t return home, her parents, including her prosecuting attorney father, blame Aaron.

After Mae’s body is found in her car in a ditch miles from where they camped, all evidence points to Aaron as a murderer. Bea begs Rusty to defend Aaron in court, and Rusty reluctantly agrees.

There are many twists and turns in this legal thriller, and fans of John Grisham’s novels and the streaming series Presumed Innocent with Jake Gyllenhaal will want to read this one.

Alafair Burke’s new novel, The Note has an intriguing story. Three longtime friends plan a reunion weekend in the Hamptons. When they get cutoff for a parking spot, they leave a note on the car as a prank. 

But the prank turns into something that leads the three friends to become involved in a police investigation, and soon one of the friends discovers something from their past that she never knew. It will have you furiously turning the pages to see what happens next.

 

Locked-room mysteries are having a moment in two recent books. First, cookbook writer Orlando Murrin turns novelist in Knife Skills For Beginners. Set in a London cooking school, it’s called The Maid meets Knives Out with a dash of Top Chef. Will there be a Gordon Ramsey-like character in it? Read it to see. 

Ande Pliego’s locked-room mystery You Are Fatally Invited is set not in a locked room, but on a private island off the coast of Maine where six thriller authors are invited to a writing retreat- and end up getting knocked off one by one. That’s what you get for inviting thriller writers I guess. 

Two Terrific Books Start Off 2025

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

The new year looks to be a good one for readers, with many terrific books on the horizon.

I began 2025 with two books with small town settings- one in Potsdam, New York, and one in a small Irish village of Faha set in 1962.

Tracey Lange’s third novel, What Happened to the McCray’s? continues in her genre of writing wonderful novels about families navigating the travails of life. (Her previous books, We Are The Brennans and The Connellys of County Down are both excellent.) 

Kyle McCray is living a spartan existence in Spokane after leaving his wife and hometown of Postdam, New York suddenly two and half years ago. He gets a call that his father Danny has had a stroke, and Kyle’s former youth hockey coach and his dad’s best friend tells him that he needs to come home to care for his father.

When Kyle returns home, he finds his former wife Casey has been taking care of his Dad in his absence. Things are tense between Kyle and Casey, but the reader is not privy to why Kyle up and left his wife and his auto repair business suddenly.

Casey is a middle school social studies teacher and manages the junior hockey squad. Her brother Wyatt uses a wheelchair and lives with Casey. Wyatt is not happy to see Kyle back in town.

We know that Kyle is not a bad guy, we saw him help a young sandwich shop worker when a group of young men came into her store and harassed her. We get Kyle’s and Casey’s backstory, both children of single parents who helped each other’s families out. They had been high school sweethearts, loving and caring with each other.

Soon the reader discovers the sad reason that led to Kyle leaving his wife and the hometown he loves. 

Lange puts the reader right inside this snowy, cold town of Potsdam, where everyone lives for hockey. Kyle was a hockey superstar in his younger days, beloved by all. She gets the small town, college town vibe just right.

I love all of Tracey Lange’s books, and What Happened to the McCray’s is her best yet. Her characters feel real, as does the way they face the challenges that life throws at them and the relationships among the characters.

Irish writer Niall Williams introduced readers to the small Irish village of Faha first in This Is Happiness. He returns to Faha in his latest novel, Time of the Child. Like Lange, Williams brings readers right into the setting of the book, which is really a character as well.

Fair day is always a big day in Faha, when people bring their animals to the town to try and sell them. There are restaurants and food booths, games, and entertainment. The whole town turns out.

It’s December of 1962, and twelve year-old Jude Quinlan is accompanying his father Pat to town, where his father is hoping to sell his cattle and make enough money to keep the family afloat. Jude’s mother gives him instructions to make sure his father comes home after the sale, rightfully worried that Pat will end up in the pub.

We follow Jude all fair day, where at the end of the day, he finds an abandoned baby. Jude and two neighbors bring the baby to the home of the town doctor, Jack Troy, and Jack’s oldest daughter Ronnie.

Jack tells Jude and the neighbors not to say a word to anyone about finding the baby and they agree. Jack sees that Ronnie has immediately fallen in love with the baby. They care for the child and hide her from the residents of the town while Jack tries to come to some kind of solution. They conclude that someone who traveled from out of town to the fair to abandoned the child.

It’s 1962, and a single woman like Ronnie would never be able to adopt the baby. If they turn the child over to the authorities, Ronnie’s heart will be broken.

Williams writes such gorgeous prose, I frequently had to stop and close the book to ponder the profound things he said about love, both romantic and parental. 

The characters here, as in What Happened to the McCray’s?, are vividly drawn, and I particularly liked the older priest who is suffering from dementia. The friendship between him and Dr. Troy is moving. 

Time of the Child and What Happened to the McCray’s? are both beautiful books, more about character than plot. You grow to know and care about these people, people who are just trying to do their best in sometimes challenging conditions. Just like all of us.

What Happened to the McCray’s? by Tracey Lange- A+

Published by Celadon

Hardcover, $28.99, 352 pages

Time of the Child by Niall Williams A+

Published by Bloomsbury

Hardcover, $28.99, 287 pages