After I read "Snowed In" I started looking for more novels by Bartolomeo. The subtitle of this one is "A novel about finding the right man, the right career, and the right outfit", which screams chick-lit, I will admit, but Bartolomeo's characters and plots are so much richer and involving than most mainstream chick-lit. In this novel Diana Campanella is in a comfortable relationship with Philip, an aristocratic lawyer with an impeccable pedigree and impossibly high social standards. Two years ago Diana left her steady but boring job to buy a vintage clothing consignment shop, which seems to be going down the tubes at the moment. She and Philip are unofficially engaged (i.e. they talk about eventually marrying), but her family doesn't like him and he doesn't seem to have much interest in her shop or her career ambitions. Philip's family is equally dismissive of earthy, Italian Diana, whose ethnic looks and vintage wardrobe are foreign to their pure WASP culture. Diana feels that she and Philip are very compatible and comfortable, at least until she is introduced to recently separated lawyer Harry by her sister Cynthia, a wildly successful international model.
This is a wonderful novel about impossible families, sibling rivalry, sisterly bonds, self-esteem, trying to fit in, and the delights of true love. I'm sorry I finished it because I didn't want it to end!
No comments:
Post a Comment