Bartolomeo di Crespi thinks he's gotten his dream job when commissioned (after some finagling) to renovate his home parish church. As a successful and experienced interior decorator, he's thrilled that a bit of good old-fashioned Italian family influence has swayed the selection committee's choice. But he may have bitten off more than he can chew, especially while juggling family crises, various romantic entanglements (his and those of other family members), and a looming crisis that may put the whole thing in the dumpster.

Trigiani does a fine job here of creating the brawling, boisterous di Crespi family, complete with Bartolomeo's malaprop-ridden sister, a series of romantic entanglements, and a resolution that makes up in warm fuzzies for what it may lack in originality or believability.

Don't expect great literature here. Just enjoy. ( )

Solid story about the strength of family and faith. ( )

Audio Book read by Stephen Hoye

Bartolomeo di Crespi is THE decorator in town, proprietor of “The House of B,” and a devout Italian-American Catholic. His dream is to renovate the Our Lady of Fatima parish church, creating an atmosphere of splendor, glory and sense of awe that will bring all the faithful closer to their God. This forms the basic plot line, but there’s a lot more going on. Trigiani has the usual cast of colorful characters, starting with B’s sister Toot (rhymes with “foot”), who is divorced and looking for companionship now that her boys are all out of the house. His fiancée (their parents betrothed them as babies) is Capri Mandelbaum; but they really are just going through the motions for her mother, Aurelia (who is financing the renovation as long as B does the job – and marries Capri). Throw in a nephew who has left college to hang drapes, a back-stabbing priest with his own secrets, an Irish artist/general contractor, a cousin who is bereft in her widowhood, a Mexican glass artist, and more relatives and parishioners than you can keep track of. It’s a loud, happy, emotional group.

So what’s not to like? I am a fan of Trigiani’s but this one just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not sure if it’s because her main character, and narrator, is a man, or if it is the abysmal job done by Stephen Hoye reading it. Hoye’s delivery is just too slow and one-note. Unless he was using an English accent for a particular character, I had a hard time distinguishing who was speaking. Everyone just sounded too alike. He has a faint note of depression or ennui, too. I just didn’t connect with the Bartolomeo, so the entire book fell flat for me. I know there is an audio version narrated by Mario Cantone; I would think his delivery would be much better suited to Trigiani’s work. ( )

This is set in 1970. It’s told in the first person by an Italian American called Bartolomeo, known as B to his friends and family. B is an interior designer, and he’s good. His dream for many years has been to redesign the Catholic church which he has belonged to, and loved, since he was a small child...

The interesting part of the story, to me, was B’s relationship with his extended family. I found him a likeable person, dedicated to his job. He tells the story well, with a light touch; I liked seeing his role as father-figure to his nephews, and best friend to his emotional sister Toot.

I wondered where the story was going at first, but soon realised that the novel is more like a work of art, painting a picture of family life in a small village. I found it impossible to keep track of who was whom, and didn’t feel particularly attached to anyone, but then I know almost nothing about Italians living in the US.

The blurb on the back calls this book a ‘comic masterpiece’. However the only parts I thought amusing were Toot’s malapropisms, but as B keeps correcting her, they didn’t have much humour value. I was mildly amused, too, at some recipes with vast quantities of ingredients, listed as serving 48.

The least appealing part of the book is the regular descriptions of people’s houses which B has decorated; he goes into great deal about colour schemes and designs, most of which didn’t interest me in the slightest.

Still, it makes pleasant enough light reading; no violence or horror, no bad language, and no detailed sex scenes. ( )

I just adore books by Adriana Trigiani, she is a remarkable storyteller. Unfortunately, Rococo is not her best work and it starts off so slow that I started to question if Ms. Trigiani had even written the book. Thankfully, the book does pick up about 2/3 of the way through. From the start, the book is full of delightful characters that seem to jump off the page, I just wish the plot did the same. ( )