Lucia, Lucia: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “This heartwarming tale is full of lessons about taking risks in life and love.”—Cosmopolitan
 
“Funny, visual, and moving . . . A vibrant, loving, wistful portrait of a lost time and place.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
It is 1950 in glittering, vibrant New York City, and Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-year-old daughter of a prosperous Italian grocer in Greenwich Village. The postwar boom is rife with opportunities for talented girls with ambition, and Lucia becomes an apprentice to an up-and-coming designer at chic B. Altman department store on Fifth Avenue. Engaged to her childhood sweetheart, the steadfast Dante DeMartino, Lucia is torn when she meets a handsome stranger who promises a life of uptown luxury that career girls like her only read about in the society pages. 
 
Forced to choose between duty to her family and her own dreams, Lucia finds herself in the midst of a sizzling scandal in which secrets are revealed, her beloved career is jeopardized, and the Sartoris’ honor is tested.

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Published Jun 29, 2004

304 pages

Average rating: 7.45

11 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Allison Nelson
Dec 10, 2025
10/10 stars
I am surprised by how much I loved this book - it was heartwarming and wonderful; but it had its sad and dark parts. I really love how the author made me fall in love with every character, especially Lucia. I do wish it had ended a little happier, though. Lucia Sartori is a character I will not be forgetting for a long, long time!
joharrison
Nov 25, 2024
8/10 stars
A bit close to home in parts, but a good read, just my sort of book! :)
Claremarie
Feb 01, 2023
8/10 stars
I read this book for a book club. An enjoyable book.

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