Good Fortune

 

Good Fortune by C. K. Chau

416 pp

Elizabeth Chen and her sisters Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Kitty live in New York City's Chinatown.  Their mother is a real estate agent and their father runs a restaurant.  Elizabeth's mother sells their beloved community center to a company who plans to change a lot about it.  The two investors are Brendan Lee (the equivalent of Mr. Bingley) and Darcy Wong (the Darcy character).  What ensues is very similar to the novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen but with modern twists.  Jane falls in love with Brendan Lee.  His sister and Darcy Wong try to keep him away from her.  Elizabeth and Darcy have sparks, but Darcy's prejudice and Elizabeth's pride get in the way.  In the background is the fear that the buyers will change the community center so much it will no longer work for the people in the neighborhood.  Mr. Collins is part of the book and is not someone there to inherit their father's wealth, but instead works for Catherine  de Bourgh and offers Elizabeth (who is unemployed) a job.  She does not want to take it, but her friend Charlotte does.  Eventually, Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte.  There she meets Catherine De Bourgh, her daughter, Darcy's sister, etc.  The pride and prejudice eventually get overthrown and Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love.  There are several modernizations, but the basic story line is still there and sometimes gets in the way.

I love Jane Austen, but didn't feel like this kept the spirit while becoming something new.  As a former English major, I may be too picky.  I give the book 3 of 5 stars,

The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

 The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman 400 pages

 By the time this book is released to the public, hopefully the Coronavirus Pandemic is over.  Back when I was reading this in March 2020, the world was gripped with stay-at-home orders, exhausted medical staffs and too few supplies for said medical staffs. For me, though, this book was a relief.  Since going back to visit Italy is on my bucket list, it was a welcome respite from the bad news. Thank you, Natalie S. from Penguin Random House for sending me an Advanced Readers Copy.

It’s been more than two-hundred years since Filomena Fontana put a curse on her sister and cursing all second-born daughters forever after, causing them to never find true love. Based on the fact that all Fontana second-born daughters have never married, contemporary Fontanas believe the curse is real.

Fast forward to 2018 in Brooklyn, New York. At twenty-nine, Emilia, a second-born daughter, is happy with her life in the family bakery.  She makes a cannoli to die for say customers.  She works in the bakery with her father and nonna. Dad is a quiet man, but Nonna Rosa is a hard woman, expecting perfection and to be obeyed. Emilia has an apartment that she shares with a cat named Claws. Her best friend is a man she has known since they went to school together as children.

Out of the blue, a letter from her great-aunt Poppy arrives, inviting Emilia and her cousin, Lucy, to accompany her on a trip to Italy. The goal is to be at the cathedral on her eightieth birthday to meet the man she fell in love with in 1959. Aunt Poppy is estranged from the family, but Emilia remembers her sending birthday and Christmas cards. Nonna Rosa is against the trip and makes her wishes known.

Needless to stay, Emilia defies Nonna and off they go. The scenery is gorgeous; the trio’s adventures are alternately fun and sad, and family secrets are revealed…and there is a happy ending. 

I was sad when the story ended. I had come to love these characters as they navigated through uncharted territories.   “The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany?” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.