Very Valentine, and Brava Valentine, by Andriana Trigiani

The first two novels of an anticipated trilogy are bubbly and light. Concerning the fortunes of an extended Italian-American family in the handmade wedding shoe business for generations, this could be standard “chick-lit,” but both the characterizations and the really rather lovely writing raise these delightful books far above that somewhat belittling label. Valentine Roncalli, the unmarried and increasingly despairing sister, is the main character in both, but her grandmother, Theodora, who surprises the family at age 80 with a new love, and her brother, sisters, aunts and parents are also wonderfully realized. The non-family member of the shoe business, June, turns out to have had quite a colorful and bohemian life of her own. I look forward to the concluding book. 367 and 332 pp.