Book cover of Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story

Book description

"Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story is fun and funny, wonderfully exuberant, and incredibly wise. These endearing characters-their voices and stories- will be with me for a long time to come. I didn't want to say good-bye." -Jill McCorkle, New York Times bestselling author of Hieroglyphics

An utterly delightful and…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As I read this Jersey-Italian family’s story, it brought me back to my childhood. What readers should expect is not a singular romantic story but a series of different kinds of love between people of all ages. 

DeFino’s characters come with their own baggage and mistakes within the family drama. It’s brilliant!

This isn’t a mystery, but Varina Palladino’s Jersey Italian Love Story instantly became my new favorite book.

First of all, it’s close to home for me. I’m a Jersey Girl and my grandmother married into an Italian family. The food, the colloquialisms, the (loud) holiday feasts – it’s all there.

This book has an interesting presentation as well. Each chapter begins with a few words of Jersey-Italian pidgin, traces the origins from Italian, and gives an example of how to use it properly.

Varina is a grandma who has worked herself to the bone running a gourmet food store even…

From Elizabeth's list on women starting over.

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