Very Valentine

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani's millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani's trademark heart and humor.

Funny, charming, and original (Fanny Flagg), "Very Valentine" is the hilarious story of Valentine Roncalli and the decades-old family business she struggles to save, finding love and the life she wants along the way.

Adriana Trigiani is an awardwinning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. She is the author of the bestselling Big Stone Gap series; the bestselling novels Lucia, Lucia; The Queen of the Big Time; Rococo; Very Valentine; Brava, Valentine; and the teen novels Viola in Reel Life and Viola in the Spotlight. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.