Supreme Macaroni Company A Novel

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!

Average customer rating 3.5 (2 comments)

---

`

I've been a fan of Adriana Trigiani for a while now. I absolutely loved her last novel, The Shoemaker's Wife, and thought she had risen to an entirely new level with the story. In fact, I loaned the book to my aunt to read and it's been making the rounds with her friends in the year since that occurrence. I was excited, as you can imagine, to be offered the chance to review The Supreme Macaroni Company, the third book in Trigiani's Valentine Series, as a result. I was anxious to see if she would continue the story in a way that showed the influence of that previous novel. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't that I was disappointed in the humor or the witty, fast-paced dialogue contained in The Supreme Macaroni Company - don't get me wrong. Many of the things I loved in the first two Valentine books were ever present. I felt immersed in a very American-Italian culture and loved the reminder of just how special a pair of well-crafted shoes can be. More, it was the pacing of the book that presented the issue for me this time around. I felt as if Valentine had lost her voice. I'm a single, 37 year old woman so I can fully understand how scary it must be to face losing your independence, even if it is for someone you love with all your heart. After this many years of being single, I have my ways set, and I'm not accustomed to asking for permission to do something before I do it. So I appreciated the struggle that Valentine faces as she looks forward to her upcoming marriage with Gianluca. And I was disappointed shortly after the books beginning when I saw that instead of really diving into those issues, Trigiani decided to go the fast-forward route. What do I mean? Folks - so much happens in this book over such a fast period of time. Literally two years pass in one book and so much happens. It seems as if the engagement has hardly happened before the marriage is over (and talk about a disappointment there - I wanted to read about all of the details, not just be presented them in a haphazard fashion in the short pages leading up to them). Then, Gianluca and Valentine start their life together, but rarely is the marriage explored and the very real issues looked at. Instead, I felt as if Valentine remained front and center and her husband took a back seat, much like Ken used to do whenever I would play Barbies with my sisters. You know, the wedding is fun to plan and all, but it's just too annoying to give voices to two dolls so Ken spends all his time out of the picture. If you managed to give both dolls equal playtime, then I salute you. So, ultimately, I was disappointed by The Supreme Macaroni Company. I walked away feeling a bit of whiplash and wondering how in the world all that was managed in a mere 352 pages. It felt like a massive epic tornado. I went into this book expecting to walk away with another series to loan to my aunt and to be read and read over again by different people, but unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

`

Review originally published on my blog at westmetromommy.blogspot.com 4.0 Stars So, you know what I didn't know about this book? That it is the third installment in a trilogy! In fact, I didn't find this out until I was about 2/3 of the way through the book! (Very Valentine and Brava, Valentine are the first two installments). It is because of this fact that I feel this review will be a little incomplete. You see, I did find some strange things about this book--the character development was weaker than I would have expected, there were references to things that didn't happen in the book, etc. But, all of my "complaints" about this book disappear when I realize that there are 2 books before it. So, let's ignore all that and talk about the rest. This is a book that kept me going and I really rooted for the characters, especially Valentine. I found her marriage to Gianluca and their struggles to be very realistic. And I loved Valentine's family--think "My Big Fat Italian Family." I did find the end a little predictable, but not unsatisfying. I also wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a great love story or a story about a woman "having it all" or whatnot--I think that the book would have benefited from a bit more focus. Despite not reading the first two books, I enjoyed this one--enough that I immediately ordered copies of Very Valentine and Brava, Valentine.