The View From Lake Como, Adriana Trigiani
When the book begins, the main character, Jess (Giuseppina) Capodimonte Baratta is writing a letter to Dr. Sharon, an online therapist, and she is explaining how much she wants to be happy, but as the designated caregiver in her family, the goal was proving elusive. In every family, there is one person who is the caretaker; Jess is the one in her family. Her brother and sister are in stable relationships, and she is not. She was recently divorced which made her even more available to be the assistant on call. Still, she does want a life of her own too, but one that is very different. She wants to travel far and wide, wherever the whim will take her. She does not want to be living in the basement in the home of her parents. It is not all drudgery, however, and since most of her family lives nearby, and they are close, it is a loving experience. Also, she works for her beloved Uncle Louie/Luigi Capodimonte. Currently, though, he is on the outs with his sister Philomena, her mom, and she has placed him on her proverbial “island”, so he is a persona non grata.
Because of financial constraints in her family, as the youngest of three, she was, at the very last moment, not able to go away to college to fulfill her own dreams. Instead, she began to work for the marble company owned by her family and operated by Uncle Louie. He and Aunt Lil were almost like surrogate parents to her, because she adored them and confided in them. She became the company draftsman. Her job was to design the product needed and then to arrange the installation for whatever job her Uncle Louie assigned to her. He gave her a career. Recently, he had also told her that he was going to give her the family business, as well. He also mentioned that in addition to operating the family business, Capodimonte Marble and Stone, he had had a little side venture called the Elegant Gangster, and it was off the books. She was aghast. It was kind of “double dipping” and it had a tax debt to settle with the government. He had always meant to pay the taxes, and did intend to, but then he died suddenly, before he could straighten it out, and Jess, as the executor of the estate inherited the debt and the FBI investigation that began soon after. Uncle Louie had given her that too.
Uncle Louie believed that she was a smart young woman and would handle everything well. Jess decided to do whatever the FBI asked, and she turned over all the records hoping to be able to sort it out and pay the debt, keeping the business intact. Would she be successful? Jess had had no previous knowledge of the “under the table” business, and because she seemed to be uninvolved, the FBI allowed her to leave the country. She gathered her courage, and did something completely out of character. Although a trip to Italy to learn more about the business had been planned for her and Uncle Louie before his sudden passing, she packed up and decided to make the trip alone, overcoming her timidity. She went off to Italy, to Carrara, to the place that the idea for the family business began, the place where the Capodimonte family memories began. She was going to “find herself”, make a fresh start and find out more about Uncle Louie’s business and his past.
Once there, ensconced in a wonderful apartment that she shared with Smokey, a kitten that had followed her home, she began to grow. With her online AI therapists, from “Thera-Me”, and her new found bravery, she ventured out into the world of marble in Italy. She was truly coming of age and gaining independence, although at 32, she was well past the age of discovery. She had married her childhood friend, the neighborhood crush, Bobby Bilancia. She moved into a life that had seemed preordained, but it turned out not to be enough for her. She was unsatisfied, and so they divorced. They remained good friends, though, and still probably loved each other, in their own way, but the marriage simply did not work out for her. Now, in Italy, her own good looks attracted suitors, but she was not yet ready. She was just beginning to spread her wings.
When she arrived in Italy, her first contact was Conor Kerrigan. He met her at the airport. Conor was a marble exporter who was Uncle Louie’s shipping partner in Italy, and he was married to Gaetano. Conor let her know that he was married to a man. Jess did not care at all. They became good friends. Conor introduced her to “Professoressa” Farah Adeel, a lecturer on marble. She had transitioned to female eleven years prior and was not shy about telling Jess. She was very happy with her decision and seemed to have no issues regarding her choice. She and Jess became friends, as well. Then, through Conor, she rented her apartment from Signora Laura Strazza. She had a son, Angelo, but although he caught her eye, his eye had already been caught by Dahlia and her daughter Alice.
Moving on, as she settled in, Conor got Jess her first job in Italy, designing a Piazza. Although the sights and sounds of Italy entranced her, with the marble vistas and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and the charming villages and people, and her kitten Smokey provided comfort, company and pleasure, and her work gave her satisfaction and her journaling for the online therapy filled her emptiness, she was still searching for something. Would she find it? What secrets would she discover? Would they enrich her life even more? Then, while she was loving Italy more every day, tragedy struck her family again, and she had to return home. Would she ever come back? Would she find love again? Would she find her own direction and follow her heart? In some ways, all of these questions are answered as the story plays out, but the reader may have to determine for themselves, how Jess will really face her future. The ending is a happy, loving moment of family commitment that I truly enjoyed, but I wondered where it would go from there. Perhaps there is a second book about Jess in the making.
Although I had a bit of a shock when the author introduced certain issues, because the words seemed to roll off the pen of this author like tender meat from a bone and was as pleasant to the eye as easy listening music is to the ear, I can’t say enough about how easy and enjoyable it was to read. However, I still believe that the inclusion of ideas that skew facts to make one think that certain behaviors are more commonplace than they are, in order to promote personal politics, is unsettling. However, all of the characters had some endearing feature and it was easy to embrace their romances, their relationships, their differences and their banter. I liked them all.