The Good Left Undone by AdrianaTrigiani

 Adriana Trigiani has returned to Italy for her multigenerational novel, The Good Left Undone, coming out in April. Meet the women of the Cabrelli family including Matelda Cabrelli Roffo, the family matriarch in the present-day timeline of the story.

Matelda, facing the final years of her life in Viareggio, Italy, decides it is time to part with her family secret about her mother Domenica Cabrelli. Matelda narrates the story of her mother starting in 1920 when Domenica, an intelligent, high energy 11-year-old girl, befriends the town outcast, Silvio. When Silvio is once again attacked by a group of boys and nearly loses his eye this time, Domenica helps the doctor attend to Silvio’s injured face, realizing her purpose in life.

When she is older, Domenica studies to become a nurse, but before her education is complete, she is sent away from Viareggio because a fuss was raised by the Catholic priest when Domenica gives  a young mother a pamphlet about birth control. Domenica goes to Marseilles, France, for further training while the situation she created in Viareggio calms down. However, a world war alters her plans completely.

An aspect of World War II that many may not know is that much like the Japanese were interred in camps in America during the war, Italians living in Great Britain were interred in camps there before being removed to other countries. Domenica’s life is drastically changed when one of the ships ferrying the prisoners across the seas is attacked by the Germans. When she is finally able to return home, she will have a new last name and a 6-year-old Matelda.

Adriana Trigiani is the New York Times bestselling author of 18 books in fiction and nonfiction. She is also an award-winning film director and screenwriter, playwright, and television writer and producer. She wrote and directed the award-winning major motion picture Big Stone Gap, based on her debut novel, filmed entirely on location in her Virginia hometown. She lives in Greenwich Village with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting February 27, 2022.

I would like to thank PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.