Lucia, Lucia: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

The beginning story seemed to drag a bit for me. I did love the culture, tho and persisted. Then at some point the real drama started and from that point I could hardly but this book down! I will read more by this author!

This book is captivating-I started reading it during a four hour wait at the auto mechanics and it easily got me through. Lucia reminded me of my mother, who didn’t marry until she was 30, because in the ‘49s, the “modern woman” went into NYC and worked as a secretary. What disappointed me is that Lucia never really moves beyond her infatuation with John Talbot. He casts a dark shadow on the rest of her adult life. For someone from such a loving family, I didn’t find that plausible. Still, it’s a light, fun read, especially if you love the romance of years past where women got dressed, wore gowns, gloves, hats, etc.

A good read. The characters were both interesting and entertaining . Luciana family was one we all wish we had.

Lucia Lucia is a book that once started, will be impossible to put down until completed. Then, once completed, you will be thinking about the story for days after. One cannot help but fall in love with Lucia. Like so many of Adriana's novels, the story is based on a real person, or several real people. In the first chapter, Lucia, who is in her advanced years, is telling her story to a young writer, Kit (could this be Adriana), a tenant who lives in the apartment building that once was Lucia's family home.The setting is 1950's New York City (Greenwich). Lucia is the youngest child & only daughter of an Italian grocer. Not only is she doted on by her parents but also by her 4 adoring brothers. She is the beauty of the village, a tiny woman with unique features. Her engagement to her childhood sweetheart, Dante, comes to a screaming halt when Dante's mother, over a family dinner, announces what her expectations of Lucia are once married. Lucia, a highly talented seamstress at an upscale department store, could see her life being controlled by her future mother-in-law and breaks the engagement, to the horror of both families, during dinner.Shortly after, she is swept off her feet by a very charming John Talbot. Sad to say, John's life was built on lies. He convinces her to marry him, swindles her out of money, then leaves her at the alter. The turns and twists of this novel will keep you guessing.Also, the novel briefly touches the lives of her brothers. This is a typical Italian American family of the 50's, so there is a lot of drama. AND, there are some more of Adriana's signature recipes.Lucia has spent her life in a time capsule, fulfilling her duties as a daughter, sister and aunt. This was the expectation of Italian-American woman, especially one who never married, back in the 1950's.I love this authors details...from the way a home is decorator, the way the food tastes to the personalities of the characters. Lucia is very descriptive.The ending will surprise you. I saw one review that said it was "weak" but I couldn't disagree more. Those in my reading group agree with me as well as there was nothing weak about this novel. Just as the first chapter started with Lucia telling Kit her story, it ended with Lucia involving Kit in her life story.

Let me start by saying I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Shoemaker's Wife and have read a few of Adriana's books since I read it. None can compare to that one!Lucia, Lucia is really like a Seinfeld episode. It's got no real story. It's just following Lucia's life and loves and her family's trials and joys and a vacation to Italy. You know John Talbot is up to no good but yet Lucia doesn't see it. That was easy to figure out but interesting to watch it unfold.That being said - it does pick up towards the middle. I would not say this is Adriana's best book, but once I finished it, I realized I did enjoy it! The ending is so sweet and as I was reading, I went AWWWW out loud!!Definitely not a waste of time in my opinion as one reviewer said. But if you want her best book - read The Shoemaker's Wife. I may even read that again - and I never ever re-read books.

It’s no surprise that Adriana Trigiani comes from a family of seven kids because the essence of the large, close knit Italian family flows across every page of Lucia, Lucia. Trigiani gives us the divine character of Lucia Satori, a beautiful woman caught between opposing priorities, the ones her family sets for her and those she sees for herself. Lucia’s family lives on Commerce Street in Greenwich Village. She may be the youngest, subjected to a hierarchy of four older brothers, but Lucia’s a forward thinker, a feminist before the term was even coined so she can handle herself and in doing so, she lives up to everyone’s expectations. In the days following WWII, women were struggling to define themselves. The war gave them a taste of what it was like to be out in the world, working alongside men, and the growing consensus was to stay put no matter how much men wanted to see them back in the kitchen. By turns enchanting, exciting, nostalgic and full of the classiness of the early 1950’s when women didn’t leave the house unless they were turned out in their best versions of themselves, Lucia, Lucia exudes the postwar giddiness of hope, and the promise of a safe and settled future.

I am not usually interested this kind of novel; however, the author is a skillful and compelling writer who knows how to tell a story which makes you keep turning the pages. Like most of her novels this one focuses to some degree on Italian American life in both Italy and New York City. This story (Lucia, Lucia: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani) takes place in the 1950s in New York City and is about a Lucia Sartori, a 25 year old Italian American woman and her many experiences, loves and life as an apprentice designer at B. Altman department store in New York.If you enjoy reading the books by Adriana Trigiani you may want to check out this novel.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Arts and Warrior Haiku and Senryu)

Highly recommended - you will adore this story. The character appears initially as an elderly lady living alone and as her story unfolds - it captures the very essence of how an inner strength builds in an independent woman. Now one of my all-time favourite reads.

A lovely compeling story, once I started the book, I couldn't put it down. The story takes you back to 50's New York and I got hooked on the simplicity of the story. A light and easy read.

Another brilliant book by Adriana Trigiani. I would recommend this book without a doubt, once I started it I found it very hard to put it down. Do not hesitate to purchase it!

I so enjoyed this book. It took me back to a bygone era. The writing and story flowed and I was sorry when I reached the end of the book.

I'd previously read this story a few years ago and decided to buy the story for a friendly called Lucia! It's well written and has a lovely warm style.