Adriana Trigiani never disappoints in transporting the reader to another time and place. Her newest book, The Good Left Undone, covers four generations of the Cabrelli family, beginning at the coast of Italy to World War II in Marseilles, France to Scotland, and back again to Italy. The story is told from the point of view of matriarch Matelda Cabrelli and she weaves the stories of the strong women in her family as she talks to her granddaughter. I felt immersed in the characters, wanted to be a member of this wonderful family, and never wanted the book to end!

It feels somewhat sacrilegious to give a Trigiani book 3 stars in a rating. I usually go off a few factors for rating: whether or not the book refuses to let me put it down, if I would recommend the book, and if I would read the book again (or consider it even).

Of those three criteria, only the second counted here. I don't mean to say that this book it's a beautiful piece of writing, because Trigiani doesn't disappoint there. Her prose is beautifully done--and maybe it's just that I'm done with historical fiction right now, but I just couldn't get into the story. I think the style of intertwining generations and "coincidence" has just gotten to me. I want to read real stories where the ending (happy or sad) happens because life happens. We don't get those often enough in books like this and I think that's where I leaned more toward three stars instead of four.

Is the book worth reading? Absolutely yes if you are a lover of all things historical fiction. As always, when I read a well-done historical novel I learned some things. But, quite frankly, I'm relieved to be done with this one and I'm ready to move on.

I love this book so much. It is really well written and I believe, quite possibly, one of Adrianna best so far.

I give this book 3 stars based on technical proficiency alone; the sentences are well constructed and the plot hangs together. However, my opinion of the story itself is much less charitable. Anyone who has ever read an Adriana Trigiani book knows how much she loves Italy and it’s culture and people. No surprises here. This story, however, was almost bipolar in its approach. The first half of the story was steeped in injustice and ignorance. A village that cruelly turns its back on a child for being illegitimate, the same village and the Catholic Church banishes a young nurse for suggesting family planning to a mother with health issues. More cruelty and ignorance when the story relocates to Scotland at the time of World War II and Italian residents are discriminated against and forced out of their homes to go to internment camps in Canada.
The second half of the book is a paean to the love and loyalty of the Italian family. Frankly it went on much too long. The dialogue, where every word out of an old person’s mouth is a quote worthy of a bumper sticker or refrigerator magnet, becomes repetitive and cloying.
The best part of the book is the true story of the tragic loss of a British luxury ocean liner, refitted as a prison-of-war vessel. The author builds suspense in the days leading up to the sinking of the ship and makes us care deeply for the close knit group of men imprisoned there. I think this could have made a great stand alone story.
Readers turn to books by Trigiani because they know what they’re getting and the family love is comforting. I think sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Matelda is a tell-it like she sees it kind of person. She and her husband run a jewelry business that has been passed down from her family. Now Matelda's life is coming to an end, and she feels the need to pass on her family story to her daughter and granddaughter. It's the story of her mother and her true father, not the one they knew. The family saga takes you through Italy and Scotland during World War II, all with great warmth and even a little humor thrown in.

The Good Left Undone
by: Adriana Trigiani
PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton
genre: General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction
Pub date: 4/26/22

The Good Left Undone is a beautiful, sweeping multi-generational family saga. Alternating timelines document the story of the Cabrelli women, with a glorious setting of Italy and glimpses into Scotland and England.

Trigiani writes with heart and regard for family legacy as she immerses readers into Matelda, Dominica, and Anina's loves, losses, and lives. There are secrets that need to be revealed to make the family story complete. This book is a glorious work of historical fiction, with a journey that won't soon be forgotten.

Thank you to Net Galley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton for the advance reader's copies and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#TheGoodLeftUndone #NetGalley

Review will be posted on 4/27/22
This sweeping saga starts with Domenica Cabrelli and her friend, Silvio, on an adventure in coastal, Viareggio, Italy. Domenica marches to her own beat as she is a woman during a time where they aren't afforded many options, but that doesn't stop her from dreaming big. Her best friend, Silvio, is the town outcast, as he is a bastard, but, again, that doesn't deter her from being good friends with him. As the years go by, Silvio and his mother leave the town, but Domenica never forgets him. She starts to study to become a nurse and them gets herself into trouble with the powerful Catholic Church. As her punishment, the church sends her away for a period of time to practice her nursing in France, so her world changes in the blink of an eye. While there, she truly comes into her own and she also meets Captain John McVicars, a Scottish sea captain, and despite their differences a romance blooms. Meanwhile, things are getting dangerous as Italy is getting involved in WWII. Fast forward to present day and Domenica's daughter, Matelda, is reaching the end of her life. She has stories that should be shared and family secrets that need to be told, especially as her granddaughter starts to question aspects of her life. Adriana Trigiani's multi-generational saga, The Good Left Undone, won't disappoint fans and historical fiction lovers will be wholly entertained.

Domenica is a character I immediately enjoyed in The Good Left Undone. What a force to be reckoned with! I adored her fire, her grit, her spunk, and her intelligence. Her childhood time with Silvio warmed my heart and the coastal town of Viareggio was so beautiful. As the years go by, women are still considered second class citizens and afforded very little options; however, Domenica wants to forge a different path for herself by becoming an educated nurse. While offering advice to a young woman regarding her health, she gets into some trouble as this advice goes against the Catholic Church. God forbid women do any sort of family planning! So, then Domenica finds herself exiled to France working at a hospital. That's when her real adventure begins both in love and life. I absolutely adored this part of the novel and her blossoming romance with John McVicars. I can't say enough about how Trigiani brought the time period to life so very well as the world was on the brink of war. Domenica longed to return home, but it was unsafe.

The present day story lines were also done well as they were about Domenica's family many years later. It was interesting to see how their story continued and what happened to the Cabrelli family. Matelda, Domenica's daughter, wants to share the truth with her family and I adored her journey to get to that point. You know how certain books remind you of certain people? Whenever I crack open one of Trigiani's novels, I am instantly reminded of my grandmother and transported to another time. I love that Trigiani can do this so very well and capture a bygone era.

As I mentioned before, Trigiani's settings in The Good Left Undone are fantastic -- some of her best! I felt like I was there! Whether she was describing the beautiful coastal region of Italy, the rocky shores of France, or the beauty of rugged Scotland, I felt like I was there. I especially liked the descriptions of Scotland and really enjoyed being transported there. I did learn a lot about WWII and how it impacted the Irish Scots. I had no idea that they were basically rounded up and how dangerous things were for Italians that lived in Scotland or France. This aspect of the book definitely kept me turning pages.

Trigiani is one of my favorite authors and I adored The Good Left Undone. I know her legions of fans will enjoy it as well and I highly recommend it to them as well as fans of historical fiction, especially if readers enjoy stories about strong women as well as a multi-generational sagas that tug on your heartstrings.

So, are you a fan of Adriana Trigiani? Is The Good Left Undone on your TBR list or have you read it already? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

I have been a fan of Adriana Trigiani for years. It all started with Big Stone Gap and the tastes of Italy flush with family and food that wafts from the page. The Good Left Behind swept me across Italy to the Scottish Highlands and like her other books contained the enduring love of family and the taste of good food.

This is a multi-generational tale spanning from the 1920s to present day. Between the pages we learn about life, love and disappointment. Through it all, the characters are so real, you are caught up in their lives. No one with a beating heart will be able to resist the Cabrelli family.

My grandmother lived to be 95 full of wisdom and wit. Perhaps thats why I enjoy family sagas that demonstrate a wisdom of ages. If you want to know who you are, look into your genealogy and learn about who came before you.

Many thanks to Adriana Trigiana, Penguin Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read a delicious ARC that transports us inside the life of a family doing their best to stay true to who they are while leaving no good left behind.

Set between WWII and the present day, Adriana Trigiani's latest novel, The Good Left Undone, is one of the must-read books for 2022. From vivid descriptions of Domenica Cabrelli's life in the coastal town of Viareggio to her daughter Matelda's revelations about her family's past in the present day now that she is reaching the end of her life. She shares the secret of her mother's two great loves, her childhood friend, Silvio, and a dashing sea captain John Lawrie McVicars whom she meets in Marseilles after being unfairly banished. When WWII begins Domenica's life is forever changed, and with it, her young daughter Matelda loses a father that she never had a chance to know.

This book captures your attention from the very first page. Trigiani expertly weaves the past and present together, we discover that love is possible after loss, and in the end family really is everything.

4.5. If I see a multigenerational saga about an Italian family, I will automatically request it and gobble it up like candy. This one was no exception. Trigiani’s descriptions are lush and detailed, and her writing borders on flowery without bogging the reader down with unnecessary details. It was fascinating to learn about Domenica and her legacy while also delving into the lives of the peripheral characters. I wish I had gotten to know more about Matelda and read about her growing up, getting married, etc., but I suppose that would have been a much longer book.

Thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, and Adriana Trigiani for allowing me to read the ARC of The Good Left Undone.
I LOVED this book, as expected, since the author captured my heart long ago with Lucia, Lucia, and has kept me in her spell ever since! Her stories of families, our loyalty to our families, and how family shapes our lives, always fill the reader with contentment and love. Matelda Cabrelli is the anchor of her family, with stories to teach is about life, love, and loss, and how to navigate the world around us. Her stories about her mother and her secrets, her lifelong friend, Silvio, and her young sea captain, John McVicars, we learn about how love, family, and being true to ourselves are the most important goals in life.
I didn’t want this book to end, but look forward to sharing it with my sister, my friend, and other fellow book lovers.
Congratulations Adriana Trigiani. You have inspired us once again.

This is a multigenerational family saga that is told with warmth, humor, and poignancy. Moving back and forth in time, it tells the story of four generations of women as they live life and experience history. Taking place primarily in Italy, there are portions of the tale set in France and Scotland as well.

Some of the narrative takes place during World War II where the reader is introduced to the inhumane treatment of the Italians who had emigrated to Scotland, even though they were contributors to the Scottish society, some even having fought for the UK in World War I. I was struck again, as I often am reading books that take place in this time period, how we don’t learn from history and continue to inflict injustices on our fellow man.

Trigiani’s vivid descriptions transport the reader to the actual locations where one can experience the tastes, the smells, the climate, the beauty. I particularly enjoyed her observations of the aging process….they were painfully omniscient while also amusing. This was a wonderful story……..

Thanks to #Netgalley and #Penguin for the DRC

The Good Left Undone is The author's latest title. It is a multi-generational tale spanning the lives of 3 woman.
Matelda is dying and tells the story of her mother's life, from 1920s Italy through to wartime Scotland. Choices Domenica makes take her on a an unexpected path and those choices effect her daughter and great granddaughter.
I usually enjoy Adriana Trigiani's books and liked this one but didn't love it. Strangely I didn't like Matelda and that could be the reason. I found her too shadowy as a narrator and feel she was not a rounded character.
An enjoyable read but not one of the author's best.

Epic is the word I use for all Adriana Trigiani books. They typically span many years and have these big stories that are just so much and I love them.

In this book, Matelda is sharing her mother's story as she had a great love, but the war tore them apart and in my opinion she never recovered from that epic love. In one of the storylines in this book, Matelda is sharing her mother's story with her granddaughter and they will both learn that all families have secrets and sometimes the whole story is hard to share. In the other storyline, Matelda's mother Domenica is thriving in the coastal town of Viareggio until she makes one decision that will change the course of her life. As a nurse, during a time of war, Domenica will see things that not many women at this time will and it will change her life.

I love a dual storyline and I love it even more when the reader knows the connections between the two early on and the discovery of the life and the journey matter instead of the connection of the stories. While I appreciated Matelda telling her story, for me it felt weird that it was skipping a generation and she was sharing this story with her granddaughter, maybe I like things in order too much!

I also love a historical fiction that teaches me something. I did not know of the story of the sinking of the Arandora Star and what a tragedy that was. When a book urges me to go find and read more about a subject, I call that a good read!

I know when I am picking up a Adriana Trigiani that I am settling in to a few days with some characters that are going to share this grand story and I can't wait to immerse myself in their world, but am also sad when it ends!

I have read every single one of Adriana's books and always love the family stories. This one was a little different but really reveals the importance of knowing ones family history and learning from it. A great Summer read.

I usually love this author, so I was surprised when I did not love this title at all, unfortunately. I think it was just too dark for me from the very start. The tone left me in a gray mood, and I live in a place where it's gray all the time and couldn't bring any more gray into my life right now. I feel like she usually has someone more likeable from the beginning in her books. Not this time.

Adriana Trigiani is a household favorite here. Her work sparkles with humor and well-written dialogue. I recommend reading this title, along with her other titles.

The Good Left Undone is a mutigenerational saga that ranges from Italy to Ireland. The current family matriarch, Matelda, is slowly dying but she has stories to tell her family first. She wants them to know about her mother and the love of her life and the story goes back and forth between present and past. Part of the story takes place in Ireland during World War II and I really liked learning about this history I had never known. This is a pleasant and entertaining read but not one of Trigiani's very best. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Good Left Undone
by Adriana Trigiani
Pub Date: April 26, 2022
Dutton
Thanks to the author, Dutton Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I used to tell everyone that The Shoemaker's Wife was my favorite book by this author. Not so now!!
This book is fantastic, a sweeping epic that spans a century. Chronicling the fallout from the cataclysmic sinking of the Arandora Star — torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1940 — this extraordinary novel manages to mourn the dead, celebrate the living, and remind us that every family has secrets that are heartbreaking, heartwarming, and inspiring.
"When considering the past, contemplate these things:
The Evil Done, The good left undone, the time wasted"
5 stars

I am a great fan of Adriana Trigiani , especially her multi generational novels which give depth to her characters and bring the settings to life. This book is no exception; her characters jump from the pages and remain in the readers thoughts.
Spanning over a century, the loves, lives and secrets of this family are perfectly depicted.
Sit back and prepare to be enthralled.