Book Nook: Review of the Shoemaker's Wife

I'm new to the Patch, but when I was asked if I wouldn't mind sharing some of the book reviews I write for my own enjoyment with the community I jumped at the chance. I'm an Adult Services Librarian at the Medfield Public Library (no, it's not a naughty title, but a more inclusive way of describing the many things a Reference Librarian can do).  I've always loved books, however it is only recently that I've realized the pleasure I get from sharing my impressions, feelings, and reactions to certain books with co-workers and patrons at the library.  I'd like to kick off this new blog by sharing with you the best book that I read this summer: The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani.

Ever since I picked up The Shoemaker's Wife, people have been telling me how much they love Trigiani's writing, and now that I have finished the book I can understand why. Trigiani is able to capture the most tender and heart breaking feelings about life in this love story based on her own grandparent's romance. Enza Ravanelli and Ciro Lazzari are humble and genuinely good people. Although they have their own unique sets of skills, their stories are ordinary and reflect the struggles of thousands of immigrants coming to America at the turn of the century. What is remarkable about these characters is how their lives unknowingly intertwine from the age of fifteen, and how both Enza and Ciro face the challenges of life as a foreigner creating a new identity in New York at a very young age.

Trigiani's writing style is evocative, emotional, and elegant. She really makes it seem like you are looking in on her characters private lives or as if you were reading letters written by real people. This book will make you cry, but it will also make you appreciate how easy our lives are compared to what our grandparents and great grandparents lived through. The lives of those who came before us significantly influence each generation, and I think that Trigiani is trying to teach a lesson of both respect for our ancestors and pride for their sacrifices. Life does not come easy, and its only through the hard work and love of our family that the future can be realized.

I really enjoyed the aspect of following the two main characters' families from a very young age (1908) into the 1930s, but not dragging the reader through all of the nitty gritty. Trigiani hits the big events that influenced Ciro and Enza, like coming through Ellis Island, but tends to shy away from some of the national issues like the women's vote and the Great Depression, but the way the story is structured, these events do not matter. You get to know Ciro and Enza and can take a pretty good guess how they would have seen the political changes around them. If you haven't put this book on your to-read list yet, you should. I believe it will quickly become a modern classic.