February 14, 2022
This sweeping epic from Trigiani (Tony’s Wife) follows three generations of the Tuscan Cabrelli clan as they deal with war, heartbreak, and family secrets. Octogenarian Matelda Roffo, knowing her days are numbered, reveals to her children and grandchildren the truth about her mother Domenica’s seldom-discussed first marriage to the Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars. Flashback to 1939 when Domenica, while practicing as a nurse, recommends birth control to a patient, angering a local priest who forces her to leave her hometown. She ends up working at a hospital in France, where she meets McVicars while treating his neck wounds. The looming war takes McVicars away, but the two run into each other in Glasgow, Scotland, a year later and decide to marry. Tragedy strikes and Domenica returns to Tuscany to make a life for herself and her newborn Matelda. In the present, Matelda’s revelations send ripples across the family and change the trajectory of her granddaughter’s life. Some of the many subplots about minor characters distract from the emotional core of the story, but Trigiani’s lush descriptions and trademark acute attention to family dynamics more than compensate. This saga of family and legacy is one to savor. Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor.
Starred review from September 1, 2022
Trigiani (All the Stars in the Heavens) transports listeners to the Italian coastline, the Scottish Lowlands, and Marseille, France, in a family saga. Cabrelli family matriarch Matelda is near the end of a long life. Her granddaughter Anina is figuring out where life should take her, and after Matelda's hospital stay, she is determined to hear her grandmother's story. What unfolds is the story of love found, love lost, and the courage to love again as listeners are swept from one country to another and back to Italy leading up to World War II, the war and its fallout. Listeners learn about how "Britalians" were treated during the war, how a family began again after the conflict's end, and how to move forward from the past. Narrators Carlotta Brentan, Lisa Flanagan, Edoardo Ballerini, and Deepti Gupta bring to life the beauty, tears, love, and emotion that Trigani breathes into the characters. VERDICT This audiobook is not to be missed for longtime Trigiani fans and those who appreciate dual-timeline historical fiction.--Stephanie Charlefour
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.