The Amore Way: Love, Italian Style

When I settled in with Jill Santopolo's Stars in an Italian Sky, I knew it would be wonderful.  I'd enjoyed her haunting The Light We Lost and her moving More Than Words, so her latest, which is historical fiction, was bound to be just as heartfelt.  And it was.  Perhaps even more so.

When Vincenzo walks into Giovanna's father's tailor shop, Italy is still recovering from World War II.  But Vincenzo and Giovanna see only each other.  Even if Vincenzo belongs to a nobility losing its hold on an increasingly democratic Genoa, and Giovanna is just a shopkeeper's daughter.  Their attraction is so strong that not even Giovanna's sister's warnings can keep them apart, and soon Vincenzo, a talented but frustrated artist, arranges to meet with Giovanna in secret to paint her.  

Meanwhile, in modern-day New York City, another passionate couple grapples with family tension.  Cassandra and Luca are newly engaged but have different dreams when it comes to their wedding.  Then something happens to further complicate things, making them question whether they're destined or doomed.

Embroidered with a whimsical wardrobe (not only is Giovanna a dressmaker, but Cass is a fashion exec), Stars in an Italian Sky is a love letter to love and family and how the latter binds (and, yes, sometimes constricts), even as it endures through the decades.  Nostalgic and bittersweet, it celebrates the best things in life -- as well as the risks that make it worth living.   

War of the Words: Love Language Anguish

When speechwriter Nina Gregory's beloved hotel mogul father dies, she's heartbroken.  Whenever Nina told him, "I love you," he always responded, "More than words."  But as she begins to sift through his affairs, she learns that he wasn't the paragon he purported to be -- and that maybe she isn't who she thought she was either.

Jill Santopolo's More Than Words is a sympathetic look at a woman who communicates professionally but has trouble sharing her truth with loved ones.  One of the most symbolic stops on Nina's journey is a shopping spree to update her monochrome wardrobe:

"Nina loved the new her (too).  In these clothes, she felt confident and powerful.  Like someone worth noticing.  Like someone who would make bold choices, whatever they were." (244)

As Nina grows more vocal, she also grows stronger -- even when it means moving on from a career and relationship that once defined her.  

Because knowing herself means knowing peace.

And that's worth more than words.