Books: Rococo by Adriana Trigiani

Audio Book: Read by Mario Cantone

Adriana Trigiani gives an entertaining read in this book, which is NOT a Big Stone Gap book.

This story is set in New Jersy and tells the story of Bartolomeo di Crespi (aka "B"). B is a bachelor and interior designer who desperately wants to renovate the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Fatima, in his community. He comes from a large Italian family (lots of cousins and nephews) and has an older sister named "Toots" who cares for him. Their role eventually swaps during the novel and B. comes into his own, mostly because Toots has an affair with her ex!

B. also has a platonic fiance' who eventually marries someone else. He meets up with an international designer named Eddie who sparks him, but B. is ultimately in love with his work, not women.

This novel is more character-driven than plot-driven, and certainly nothing greatly eventful happens, but this is an entertaining glimpse into families and relationships and humanity overall.

Not quite as intriguing to me as the Big Stone Gap novels, but that could be simply because those books remind me so much of home.

3.5 stars