The View from Lake Como

An Italian American woman throws off the shackles of her constrictive New Jersey family in this sweet outing from Trigiani (The Good Left Undone). Giuseppina Capodimonte works for her savvy uncle Louie, drafting designs for fountains, bathrooms, and floors made from the distinctive Italian marble he imports. She’s left her hometown husband, Bobby, and is living in her parents’ basement, the dutiful daughter who’s with Grandma Cap when she dies, who’s always there to help Grammy B make the cavatelli, and whose college fund was used to put her brother Joe through law school. After Giuseppina takes over Cap Marble and Stone, she discovers that her uncle was in over his head with the IRS. The first thing she does is travel to Carrara, where the marble is quarried, and there her awakening begins. She rents a charming apartment overlooking a picture-perfect piazza, drinks superb espresso, acquires a stray kitten, and melts on multiple occasions into the arms of the landlady’s gorgeous son. As Giuseppina straightens out her family’s business, the Italian sojourn proves predictably life-changing. Trigiani’s fans will lap this up. (July)