The Shoemaker's Wife

Though they grew up in towns just a few miles apart, Enza, a sensible beauty, and Ciro, a muscular mountain guy, first met as teens amid the spectacular and eerie grandeur of the Italian Alps. Ciro is exiled from his hamlet at the turn of the century when he exposes the local priest in a scandal. He is then forced to hide in America as a shoemaker's apprentice in Little Italy. He departs without saying anything, leaving Enza devastated. Enza's family soon suffers tragedy, and in order to protect their future, she is also compelled to go to America with her father.

Unaware of one another, they each establish nascent lives in America; Ciro becomes an expert shoemaker, while Enza accepts a job in a Hoboken factory, until destiny steps in and brings them back together. However, it's too late: Ciro has volunteered to fight in World War I, and Enza, determined to live without him, starts an amazing career as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House. This career will take her into Manhattan's glitzy salons and introduce her to Enrico Caruso, the world-renowned singer.

These star-crossed lovers meet and part ways from the grand mansions of Carnegie Hill to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy, from the treacherous cliffs of northern Italy to the white-capped lakes of northern Minnesota, until at last the power of their love transforms both of their lives forever.

The Shoemaker's Wife is a portrait of the times, the places, and the people that defined the immigrant experience—claiming their piece of the American dream with ambition and resolve, cutting it to fit their needs like the finest Italian silk. It is lush and evocative, told in tantalising detail, and enhanced with endearing, unforgettable characters.

Adriana Trigiani was destined to create this gripping historical epic about love and family, conflict and loss, danger and destiny. Her love of tradition and her own family history served as inspiration for this book, which has garnered her accolades for her best-selling books worldwide. The Shoemaker's Wife, like Lucia, Lucia, is a work of opera that spans an age with clarity and grandeur and has a colourful ensemble of characters who will linger in readers' minds for years to come.