If a summer romance novel is what you are craving to read as you sit by the pool or beach, Adriana Trigiani's Lucia, Lucia is a perfect choice. Set in 1950 New York City, the novel is about a young woman, Lucia Sartori, who is determined to have a career and be able to support herself, an unusual choice for a girl who was raised in a conservative Italian home. Lucia's parents expect her to marry into a respectable Italian household, and raise grandchildren for them to cherish as they adore her.

When the elderly Lucia begins to share her story with a young neighbor named Kit, Lucia reveals that she was the only daughter in the Sartori family, leaving her with four older brothers who protect and torment her. Although she did not attend college, Lucia was a talented seamstress, specializing in bead work decoration, working in B. Altman's “Special Order Department,” under the direction of the soon to be famous Hollywood designer, Delmarr.