As a fan of the Big Stone Gap books, I was eager to read more by Adriana Trigiani and quickly devoured this book. Set in New York's Greenwhich Village during the 1950s/ 1960s the book is narrated by Lucia Santori, the only daughter and youngest child of a large, boisterous Italian family.The book begins rather slowly although it quickly picks up speed and is easy to read.Once again, Trigiani has a knack for vivid imagery and selecting appealing adjectives that bring out the best of the story's characters and setting.

Although Trigiani successfully creates another cast of colorful, memorable characters,this books is less straight forward than Big Stone Gap and addresses issues that were rather taboo in the 1950s/ 60s such as career women, premarital sex and pregnancy, breaking ethnic traditions,and women's rights. While the Big Stone Gap series is about loving yourself and your community and finding your place in the world, which everyone can relate to, this book appeals to a more narrow audience and is about dealing with loss, heartache and grief with family members so it does not end as rosily as the Big Stone Gap books. Still, fans of Trigiani should read this to note how the author has grown based on changes in her own life and writing.