Our May Sip & Read Book Club Pick Is 'The Good Left Undone'
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Welcome to the VERANDA Sip & Read Book Club! Each month, we dive into a new book and offer exclusive conversations with the author, along with a perfectly matched cocktail. This month's pick is Adriana Trigiani's The Good Left Undone, an enthralling story following three generations of Tuscan jewelers as they combat familial secrets and the hardships of war. Get caught up on our past book club selections here.
Matelda feels she's running out of time. The matriarch of the Cabrelli family decides to finally tell her family a story she's kept a secret for decades: the truth behind her mother Domenica’s marriage to the Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars. In the chapters that follow, readers follow Domenica through a whirlwind adventure from the rolling hills of Tuscany to Marseille's rocky shores and eventually to the streets of Glasgow where she grapples with love and the repercussions of World War II. Adriana Trigiani's The Good Left Undone is an immersive and nuanced look at the meaning of family and identity. Here, the author and filmmaker reveals just what inspired her latest historical fiction and the importance of family.
What was the inspiration behind this multilayered tale?
Adriana Trigiani: The family—with my novels, it’s always about the family—how we live, connect to one another, disappoint each other, fail and somehow forgive and thrive. “A family is only as strong as their stories,” Matelda says at the outset of the novel, and I believe that’s true.
This novel follows the Cabrelli family over the course of 100 years. How did you map out this novel to ensure each character's story was fully told?
AT: I find that I can make all the plans in the world, outline, and meticulously arc the journeys of the characters, but once I’m in the world writing, I ignore all that and let the characters take me where they need to go. The Good Left Undone is essentially the story of a woman who looks back over her life and decides that she has failed her family. Their family business has prospered, but their stories were left behind. Matelda knows the story of her mother Domenica Cabrelli matters, and when she dies, it will never be told again. So, one afternoon, her granddaughter Anina stops by; she’s engaged to be married and in the Italian tradition, the grandmother gives a piece of her jewelry to the bride. When Anina reaches for the only significant piece of jewelry Matelda’s mother Domenica owned, Matelda knows the moment has come to set the record straight, and she will start with her granddaughter.
A portion of The Good Left Undone talks about the treatment of Italians in United Kingdom during World War II. What was the research like for this novel? Did you feel any sort of duty to make sure those scenes were as factually correct as they could be?
AT: I was in Scotland directing a movie (Then Came You, 2020). Before the cast and crew arrived, I had a weekend to explore Glasgow. I found myself at Saint Andrew’s Cathedral where a wedding was taking place. I crashed it, and when it was over, I took photos. I was taught that it was good luck to see a bride on her wedding day. When the nuptial mass ended, I was outside with the revelers. A man said from behind “Who are you?” I turned, it was the priest. He asked me my name, and then he said, “You’re Italian. You need to see the garden.” So, I went inside the memorial garden and found the plinth dedicated to the Italian Scots who perished on the Arandora Star on July 2, 1940. I cancelled the rest of my plans that day, went back to the hotel, called my researcher and said, “There’s a story here.”
In many ways, the landscapes of both Italy and Scotland play characters in the story. Was that purposeful? Did you visit each country before writing?
AT: I always try and spend time in the places I write about. It helps to walk in the shoes of the characters—to see the sun as they view it, walk the beaches, eat the cuisine, meet the locals, and get a feel for how they live and what is important to them. I adore the Scots, and because I’m Italian descent, Italy is my heart.
What’s the difference between writing a novel and writing for film? Any chances for The Good Left Undone to be made into a movie?
AT: They are different crafts—writing a novel or a screenplay—but for me, it all starts with the theater, with plays, with the ability to dramatize a scene and create a story that captivates the audience, whether they are reading it on the page or watching it on a screen. I would love to direct and write this novel into a limited series. It would be glorious to expand the world as it is in the novel and to fully realize the story. The details in the novel would be delicious to render on film, and I live to do it.
Since the Cabrelli family are jewelers, we’ve got know what your favorite jewelry piece is!
AT: Please don’t make me choose just one! I love the antique diamond band my husband gave me for our engagement. I love the wedding band that belonged to my grandmother Viola that I was married in, and there’s a whimsical charm that belonged to my mother. She was a librarian from the Iron Range in Minnesota—a perfect small town called Chisholm. When my mom turned 16, she and her twin sister received a charm from a family friend. It’s a gold circle with an emerald cut peridot with an angel swinging on a star. I remembered it from childhood and my mom gave it to me before she died. Jewelry is a wonderful way to tell the family story—the significance of it is timeless and shores up the weary spirit in memory as we reconnect with someone we loved and lost.
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