Adriana Trigiani returns with the final novel of her Valentine trilogy, starring the Italian-American shoemaker Valentine Roncalli. Sometimes hilarious (as when the extended family takes over the pages), sometimes too poignant to read without a tear or two, The Supreme Macaroni Company will inspire most readers to stay up all night if necessary to finish it.

On the eve of her marriage to tanner Gianluca, Valentine is concerned about their long-term prospects. Valentine's family line sports "diabetes, heart disease, and dyspepsia," not to mention "the onset of eye tics in the late thirties." Bitterness is chronic and accompanied by cold sores and occasional jaundice. Not to mention "a glandular predisposition that prevents true happiness."

After the wedding, Valentine struggles to balance her roles as an Italian man's wife and an Italian-American woman. It becomes clear that differences abound between the two, and as she and Gianluca learn more about each other—and face business challenges—Valentine begins to wonder if she can be a success as a wife and as a shoe designer.

Trigiani has a long list of novels to her credit, including nonfiction and young adult fiction. She's supremely capable when it comes to creating warm characters that readers will want to befriend, and communities that they'll want to join. If The Supreme Macaroni Company is your first Trigiani, it probably won't be your last.

Trigiani's latest (after The Shoemaker's Wife) introduces readers to Val Roncalli, shoemaker and member of a boisterously loud Italian American family that always keeps things interesting. Fiercely independent and set in her ways, Val shocks everyone on Christmas Eve, during a routine family fight, when she announces that Gianluca Vechiarelli, a tanner, has proposed to her. More shocking is that Val has accepted. The two are married quickly, plunging Val into a lifestyle so alien she nearly demands a divorce. Slowly, she comes to accept her new life and the meaning of love and marriage. VERDICT Val's eccentric family keeps the book going at a quick pace, distracting readers from Val's insecure baby steps toward marital bliss. Recommended for all Trigiani fans and those who've enjoyed a good cookie table (an Italian tradition commonly seen at weddings in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia). [See Prepub Alert, 6/3/13.]—Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll. Lib., Pepper Pike, OH

As with last year's The Shoemaker's Wife, the author's hottest seller to date, Trigiani picks up the cobbler's toolkit to craft a story about love and work that ranges from New York to Italy and beyond. As Valentine Roncalli seeks to maintain the 100-year-old family business—the Greenwich Village-based Angelini Shoe Company—she complicates her life by falling in love with Gianluca Vechiarelli, a tanner whose secrets start to emerge on Christmas Eve as the couple celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes with Valentine's family. With a one-day laydown on November 5 (news on this book just arrived), a ten-city tour, and a 150,000-copy first printing; pushed at BookExpo America.

Trigiani (The Shoemaker's Wife) explores the delicate balance (and unbalance) between work, family, and love. Valentine Roncalli, a shoemaker at her family's business, Angelini Shoe Company, is going to marry her tanner, Gianluca Vechiarelli. Gianluca wants to return to his native Italy; Valentine is committed to keeping the family concern running in Greenwich Village. Further complicating things is a difficult moment between Valentine and an old friend, which threatens the marriage. The way the couple juggle their jobs and their complicated families with understanding, sympathy, and love is often hilarious, in spite of the frustration it brings to both of them. A twist near the end of the book is not unexpected, but tense shifts get a little dizzying and it's easy to get ahead of the story. The pages detailing how Valentine practices her craft of shoemaking are superb. Trigiani's ability to bring the large, warm, enveloping—if somewhat dysfunctional—family to life will keep any reader engrossed and entertained. (Nov.)