Very Valentine

I've just finished reading Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani. It was all right for a light read but I found Valentine herself an irritating person. She spent too much time complaining the good things of life passed her by instead of actually doing something about her situation.

The background to the book was interesting as it was about shoe making. I learned a lot about shoe making that I didn't know before. Valentine is part of a vociferous Italian American family and lives and works with her 80 year old grandmother designing and making bespoke wedding shoes - a niche market if ever there was one. The business has financial problems and needs to expand but Valentine does not appear to do anything about this.

Valentines meets and falls for Roman - another Italian American - who has set up a new restaurant. They seem unable to find time to spend together even though Valentine spends a lot of time complaining this is Roman's fault rather than hers. She seems as though she wants a relationship on her own terms and is not prepared to compromise at all. The other women in the story seem to be totally obsessed with clothes and plastic surgery and trying to keep their men folk happy - which is the opposite to Valentine. Overall a good book but it was a shame about the main character.