First published 2011
Valentina Roncalli designs shoes for her family's New York business, Angelini Shoe Company. Her grandmother finds new love and moves back to Italy, leaving Valentina to run the company with her difficult brother Alfred. Their large, demanding Italian family consumes whatever time remains. When business takes Valentina to Buenos Aires, she makes a startling discovery. A distant cousin lives there, also working in the shoe industry. This revelation raises urgent questions. Why did the close-knit Roncalli family sever ties with these relatives? The discovery throws the entire family into chaos. Valentina must navigate the complex emotions and old grievances to reconnect her fractured family. She faces the challenge of bridging years of silence while managing her struggling business and the expectations of relatives who depend on her.
Genres: fiction, family-life, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Italy, New York
Period: 21st-century
318 pages · Paperback · Boekerij