I enjoyed parts of this book, but it has dragged on a bit and I couldn’t finish it. I am sure it was a happy ending but I really wasn’t bothered to find out.

I have read a number of Adriana Trigiani books but I do not feel that this was one of her best. Well observed with family American/Italian dynamics and the relationships between them all bought out to the fore. There is nothing wrong with the story and you can see that there has been a lot of research into the buying and selling of marble. It wasn't quite for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advance copy of this book.

The story of recently divorced Jess Barratta and her Italian American family in Lake Como, New Jersey. Jess works with her Uncle Louie in the family marble business. A talented draftsman, she has always wanted to visit Italy and is delighred when Uncle Louie books a work trip and tells her she'll inherit the business. Then things take a turn and all sorts of family secrets are revealed. Humour in the family get togethers and something deeper in Jess's need to forge her own life. A really nice read. #netgalley #theviewfromlakecomo

Jess works with her uncle in his marble business. The family had emigrated from Italy to the US and he had arranged to take her back to see the area the family came from. After he dies she finds the air ticket and decides to go anyway. There she meets new people, some of whom are family, and discovers a different side to herself
An extremely interesting storyline with well drawn characters. A brilliant read.
I had read other books by this author and was excited to receive a digital copy of this latest one from Netgalley - thank you.

This is about 35 year old Jess an Italian American from Lake Como, New Jersey. Much of the story revolves around her fami,y dynamic which is portrayed well. She plans to visit Italy to her home of her ancestors with her uncle and boss Luigi. When her u cle dies leaving his marble business to her, she decides to still go to Italy.
The depiction of Italian life is brilliant but the story was a bit slow paced for me.

I was looking forward to this book but I really struggled to get into it. I found it wasn’t that interesting and never really got much better.

The only thing that was good was the facts about the marble and the description of the scenery in Italy.

I found the characters didn’t really work well together and felt that parts of the book went on too long. I found that there really wasn’t much romance as such.

I enjoyed the story and loved the descriptions of Italy.
I have read one of the authors books before.
Jess is living in her parents basement since she got divorced she does love her job.
I felt sorry for Jess as she seemed to always be climbing over obstacles.
Some of the story is her journal which gives an insight into her previous life. She also travels to Italy to see the quarry they import from and she starts to consider her life and think things through.
I thought this would make a good beach read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

The more I read from this author, the more I like her. I absolutely love all of the Italian everything in it, but the family drama and actually focusing on learning how to deal with it and grow together was great. I’m so glad the entire thing isn’t centered on her focusing on a guy, but more on herself. Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I read other books by this author many years ago and remember enjoying them- romantic family stories and “The View from Lake Como “is in a similar vein. It is about thirty something Jess, recently divorced and living in her parents’ basement. After the death of her beloved mentor, uncle Lou she goes to Italy to “find herself”, an aspect of the story I found rather cliched. She appears to blame her parents for all her woes when , to be honest, they are not all that awful, just lightly flawed. She uncovers a big family secret in Italy but even that is not particularly revelatory.
It was a pleasant, enjoyable read but that is as far as I will go. There were a plethora of characters, some of whom were vaguely interesting but the plot was very slow moving, so much so that I did consider giving up but I kept on hoping that something might actually happen.
Jess is very self absorbed and feels lost and ignored in her big Italian family. I felt that she was overly dramatic. The therapy she was undergoing online was also rather irritating. Her failed relationship is never fully explained and although she has suffered a bereavement and other losses, she seems incapable of accepting her life and moving on.
I must admit I was keen to read about Lake Como, Italy, a place I recently visited, but there really wasn’t a lot about it in the book apart from one small section.
This wasn’t my favourite book by this author, I feel that her earlier books were much better.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this eCopy to review

Having read many of Adriana Trigiani's books before when I picked up The View from Lake Como, I expected a sweeping romantic escape to Italy, and while the setting certainly delivered, the story left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

The story follows Jess, a recently divorced woman who’s moved back into her parents’ basement in Lake Como—not the glamorous Italian one, but a working-class town in New Jersey. Jess is the overlooked daughter, the one who cooks Sunday dinners and puts everyone else first. She works as a draftswoman in her uncle’s marble business, quietly shelving her own dreams.

After a family tragedy shakes things up, Jess decides to take a bold step: she heads to Carrara, Italy, her ancestral home, to reconnect with her roots and rediscover herself. There, surrounded by marble mountains and Italian artistry, she meets Angelo Strazza, a goldsmith with a passion for beauty and truth. As Jess uncovers long-buried family secrets, she begins to carve out a new life—one that’s finally hers.

Trigiani’s writing is warm and vivid, especially when describing Italy’s landscapes and the tactile world of marble and gold. I loved the sensory richness and the themes of reinvention and creative courage. But I found the pacing uneven, and lacking the emotional depth of her earlier books. Jess is a likable character, but I wanted to feel more connected to her transformation and more complexity in the supporting characters.

Overall, it’s a comforting, big-hearted read with a strong sense of place and a message about reclaiming your life.

Jess lives in Lake Como America. She's recently divorced and is helping her Uncle Louie in his marble business. He persuades her to go to Lake Como in Italy but he dies suddenly and she decides to go on her own. This changes her whole life

First of all, just how stunning is that cover? It makes me want to immediately book a holiday to the Italian Lakes. When our main character Jess, goes to Italy for the first time, she is grieving. She’s grieving the loss of a beloved uncle and grieving the end of her marriage. Jess is from an extended Italian-American family, full of larger than life characters with some quirky personalities. I’ve no idea if this is what an Italian-American family is really like but I really want it to be. However, the death of her uncle brings some family secrets to light which give her a sense of betrayal. The opportunity to travel to Italy to find out more about the family business of importing marble could not have come at a better time for her.

I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book set in Italy as, for the first time in years, Jess finally puts herself first. She’d been a real people pleaser up till then, always wanting to do the right thing for her family and for her husband. In Italy, she gets the chance to find out what the right thing is for herself and that may include the chance to find love with a handsome Italian man. The descriptions of the beautiful Italian scenery, buildings and food were wonderful to read about. The latter left me craving pasta in simple but intensely flavoured sauces.

I also enjoyed the parts of the book which were told as flashbacks. Through these we find out just what’s been going on in Jess’s family and a lot more about the way she relates to the various people in her life. The love she had for her grandmothers and what she learned from them was so lovely to read about, as well as her special relationship with her uncle Louis and Aunt Lil.

The View from Lake Como is a wonderful big-hearted novel with a multi-generational cast of characters in some amazing settings. A story about being true to yourself and how love will find you at the right time, The View from Lake Como is another engaging, often funny, read from Adriana Trigiani. This is a perfect book to read on lazy summer afternoons.

This story mainly concerns Jess, a woman from an Italian-American family. Jess has a number of problems mainly due to the expectations of her family and how they think she could act. Her mother, in particular, was a piece of work! The story takes place in New Jersey and Carrara, Italy. There is romance but I felt it was Jess finding herself and becoming her own person was the main event. I did find the pace a little slow but it did improve when Jess went to Italy. I found the customs in both countries interesting. There are some old secrets that are uncovered that will provide a few surprises. I received a few and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed this book.

Following the end of her marriage, Jess is trying to build her life again. Louie her uncle has also passed away with whom she worked with.

Her family who are American Italian want her to live in the way they do and she finds herself being pressurised as she herself wants to do something different.

More than anything, Jess wants to go to Italy to find out where her roots are.

Secrets are revealed after her uncle died and these make her think about who she can trust and what it is exactly that she wants to do. Being in Italy, she has different options.

I recommend this book.

I found this lengthy and a bit tardy . A lot of excessive dialogue . The premise was excellent about the marble and the errant uncle who left Jess his business with its dubious deals and her trying to break from an oppressive family
Unfortunately it just was not for me

I was really looking forward to reading this, but unfortunately it didn’t grab me or hold my attention or resonate with me in any way. There is a lot of Italian food, culture and traditions.
Loved the character of Uncle Louie but he didn’t last long enough, and found Jess hard to relate to or empathise with.
The language for me doesn’t flow, I don’t think I’m the right audience.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin books for the chance to read early.
Sadly not for me but am sure there are plenty of others who would love it.

I really enjoy Adria Trigani novels but found this one harder to get into.
Jess is recently divorced and trying to find a new path in her life. A bereavement and family revelations set her on a path to Italy.
I found it difficult to engage with the characters and the plot. I thought the therapy sessions were not that believable and seemed a bit dodgy.

An ok read.

I really enjoyed this book I couldn’t put it down however it didn’t wow me

Blurb

Recently divorced, Jess Capodimonte Baratta helps her Uncle Louie with his marble business from her parents’ basement in Lake Como, New Jersey.

But when an unexpected loss within the family unearths long-buried secrets, Jess questions where her loyalties lie. Deciding a change of scene is needed, she escapes to Italy - her ancestral home.

From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany to the glittering streets of Milan and the enchanting shores of Lake Como, which despite a shared name could not be more different from her hometown, Jess soon feels a sense of belonging.

And when she meets dreamy Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist, she know that this is where she is meant to be.

But as further revelations about her family history come to light, it’s clear that Italy cannot be Jess’ hiding place forever.

we really did get to view a journey here for our main character and what a wonderful one to go on. one of learning who she is, where she is from and how she wants to be. its self discovery in all its forms and the scenes were so vivid and descriptive you were compelled to read on. you were immersed completely in to these scenes and Adriana did a beautiful job of painting pictures for us whilst also letting our own imaginations run with it.
i was so invested in this family in all its forms and it made me think over so many things in our own lives and worlds. Jess takes us on her journey but one of our own too. we are taken in both past and present in Italy and USA. Our main character Jess is feeling adrift and a little lost. shes had the upheaval of her divorce that she is still trying to move on from. but it turns out her own family has far more things to fling her way. and each time she finds herself grasping a tangent there appears another member to send her in a different direction.
my favorite part was the ones we were told of in Italy. i could almost smell (and definitely wanted to taste) the foods described to us, and walk amongst the locals there. i love books like this and had such a gorgeous time getting stuck in to it. you feel like you are totally into someone else world for a while and done well they bring so much heart and emotions to your life. in all the best ways i was emotionally invested into Jess and wanted to see how she would resolve things, hoping she would be ok in the end and never quite sure how that might look for her.
Adriana has such a lovely way with words and how she writes people and the places we meet in her stories.

This was a warm, heartfelt read that felt like a big hug. I really enjoyed following Jess’s journey as she left behind her small town life in New Jersey and rediscovered herself in beautiful Italy. The descriptions of Milan, Tuscany, and Lake Como were so vivid, it felt like I was right there. Jess is a relatable character, smart, creative, and struggling to find her place after a divorce and family loss. I loved her bond with Uncle Luis and the complicated but real family dynamics. There were secrets, grief, and self discovery, all written in a very natural, touching way. I do wish the romance with Angelo had been explored a bit more, but overall, the story was about Jess choosing herself and her future. Adriana Trigiani’s writing is emotional, comforting, and full of charm.
A great summer read that blends family, love, and second chances in a lovely Italian setting.

Very grateful to the publisher for my copy through NetGalley, opinions are my own