Summer means it’s beach reads time and here are a few great ones.
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 fun.
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 scenes 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 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 pick up The View From Lake Como.
If Mysteries and Thrillers are more your style, there are two I would recommend. Chris Pavone turns from writing characters in situations abroad (The Expats, The Paris Diversion, Two Nights in Lisbon) to write The Doorman about a doorman in a fancy New York City building.
Chicky Diaz has been at his post for many years, and he knows all about the secrets, love affairs, and wealth that the residents of the Bohemia hold. When he gets entangled with someone who wants to cause trouble at the Bohemia, he has to decide how to handle it in the midst of protests that are beginning to roil the city. It’s a real page-turner about class, race, and privilege.
Laura Lippman takes a break from her more hard-boiled mysteries to write a cozy-type mystery in Murder Takes A Vacation. Muriel Blossom is a middle-aged widow on a river cruise in Paris. When she meets a handsome man on her flight, they have a flirtation and agree to meet later.
He turns up dead, and people are following Muriel on the cruise looking for something they believe the dead man gave her to hide. Muriel’s experience working as an assistant to PI Tess Monaghan will come in handy in solving the case.
Historical fiction fans will love Isabel Allende’s My Name Is Emilia de Valle set in the late 1800’s. Emilia is an American journalist traveling to Chile to cover the brewing civil war, and to find the father who left her and her mother behind before she was born.
Emilia ends up in the thick of battle and sees the horrors of war up close. Allende does an incredible job of putting the reader in Emilia’s shoes, and showing how women supported the dangerous war effort up close and personal. It’s a fascinating read.
If family stories appeal to you, Kevin Wilson’s Run For The Hills is a terrific novel. Rube Hill shows up at Madeline Hill’s farm to inform her that he is her brother- and that there are two more siblings out there.
Their father would marry a woman, father a child, and years later disappear without a trace. Rube and Mad travel cross-country to find the other two younger siblings and eventually confront their father. It’s got heart and humor and it’s a good road trip book.
Enjoy your summer reads!
