Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Harper (February 9, 2010)
Trigiani is a new author to me and although I prefer not to start a series mid flow, I found this book worked quite well as a standalone though it was clear that alot of the backstory was glossed over with minimal attention in this second book. Valentine and the Roncalli family create a fitting backdrop for the ebb and flow of life. Love lost and found and the same cycle repeating itself in other circumstances as well. Valentine and other characters don’t recognize the value of trust and the people surrounding them till they have to continue with their own life without the support and trust of the people in their inner circle of relationships. The tides of life come and go as do many intimate relationships for people on a daily basis yet Valentine finds her staunchest support from someone she refused to trust until she lost him and realized the impact he carried in his wake. Although she is a creator of artistic media, her greatest muse is one she considers lost forever. Can the burnt bridges of the past be rebuilt with the strength of their initial structure or will their spans be forever weakened by her inability to risk the intimacy inherent to the relationships moving forward? At times it takes an immense loss to waken for us the value of people and connections that we were unable to recognize as worth the risk of loss yet we lose them after all because we refuse to move forward with them.

Although Trigiani is a new author to me, she has a few books that released prior to this one and I look forward to exploring the backlist of a new author on my favorites list as well as catching upcoming works from her. (ISBN#9780061257070, 352pp. $25.99)