Book Review: Kiss Carlo

Adriana Trigiani, in her new novel Kiss Carlo, captures the exuberance of the post War World II period through the live of the Palazzini family of South Philadelphia. Father Dominic and his three sons operate a cab company/Western Union telegraph office. Dominic's orphaned nephew, Nicky, also helps out, but he also moonlights at a local Shakespearean theater as an assistant. One night, he has to fill in for a the lead actor and has to go on stage with another fill in, Calla, the daughter of the theater's owner and also the play's director. He overcomes his misgivings as an actor when he realizes that he is falling in love with her, and she with him as well. However, they are unaware they are in love with one another, and Nicky continues to date his fiance of over seven years, Peachy; while Calla sees Frank, a city employee who has ulterior motives for dating her. Nicky soon decides he loves acting and Calla, and he breaks things off with Peachy. Unfortunately, Peachy and her father do not take this very well, especially since the wedding preparations had been made and paid for. After being told Peachy's father is going to go after him with a gun, Nicky volunteers to deliver a telegram to Roseto, Pennsylvania, so he can escape the city. The telegram was supposed to tell the town that an important guest from Italy wouldn't be able to attend the town jubilee. However, Nicky decides to impersonate the guest as a means to hide out until things cool over in Phily. All goes well until Nicky is ready to leave town, only to have Peachy and her family arrive, as well as the guest Nicky was impersonating. All this and more can be found in Kiss Carlo. It is full of rollicking good fun, from characters who march to the beat of their own drums to skullduggery to a family feud. This book illustrates why USA Today had Hailed Adriana Trigiani as "one of the reigning queens of women's fiction." But I think they are wrong -- she is the queen of women's fiction. Long live the queen!