New York Times bestselling author, Adriana Trigiani, will be appearing at the Mineola Library on Thursday, Feb. 14, at 5:30 p.m. for a book signing. Trigiani, who will be holding the book signing for her newest book Tony’s Wife, is also the author of The Valentine series, Kiss Carlo, The Shoemaker’s Wife and many others.
“Becoming a writer is a calling, not unlike the priesthood or nursing or firefighting. I found myself in love with reading—and that included everything that had printed words: newspapers, magazines, books and the backs of cereal boxes,” said Trigiani, who grew up in Big Stone Gap, VA. “There were signs. When I was very young, I craved the supplies and tools of a writer with pencils, pens and paper.”
Trigiani, who was born into the middle of a big Italian-American family liked the solitude of the job that comes with being a writer.
“I first wrote poetry, then at 15 got a job at the local radio station reporting on town events, which cured me of a career in journalism,” said Trigiani. “I was always in trouble. I went into playwriting, having fallen deeply in love with the theater in high school. I am first and foremost a dramatist.”
Trigiani writes every novel to remember someone who has died. From there, it’s the details of that person’s life such as a time, place, music and historical events that does that rest.
“Tony’s Wife while not about my mother, or my grandmothers, or my great aunts, was an imaginary superhighway to them in memory,” explained Trigiani. “I revere the women in my family and wanted to write about how they navigated a world that wasn’t keen on take charge women, their ambition and dreams.”
Tony’s Wife is the third in a cycle of novels about pre- and post-World War II entertainment in America.
“I got in a groove of the era around war and stayed there through three novels,” said Trigiani. “I wrote about the movies in the golden age of Hollywood (All the Stars in the Heavens), the theater and advent of television in 1950 (Kiss Carlo) and now, the music of the big band Era (Tony’s Wife).”
Trigiani said that she has been lucky in her writing career to spend lots of time on Long Island.
“My mother was a librarian, so I am passionate about spending time with readers in libraries,” said Trigiani. “It’s my Valentine’s Day gift to my mom in heaven.”
Trigiani is always working on new material for her novels, saying that it always begins with the written word.
“As a dramatist, I love the theater and making movies, and most especially actors,” said Trigiani. “I was lucky to write and direct Big Stone Gap, my debut novel, which led to the opportunity to direct Then Came You, which was written by and starred Kathie Lee Gifford and Craig Ferguson. That was shot on location in Scotland in the summer of 2018. In June 2019, on Lifetime, Very Valentine debuts, in a script that I adapted from the novel, starring Jacqueline Bisset. I hope to do more directing and writing.”
Tickets to see Trigiani at the Mineola Library are still available at the library’s reference desk. For more information, call 516-746-8488.
