Bartolomeo Di Crespi is the acclaimed interior decorator of Our Lady of Fatima, New Jersey. So when the renovation of the town cathedral is up for grabs, he hopes there is only one man for the job. From the fabric houses of New York City to the Italian Riviera, Bartolomeo is on a mission to bring talent and the aesthetic absolute to his hometown.
Trigiani's glittering mosaic of small town characters pop and sparkle: heir to a banking fortune, Aurelia Castone Mandelbaum, finagles a marriage proposal for her delicate daughter, Capri; Father Porporino, the pastor with a secret, does his best to keep the lid on a simmering scandal; and Christina Menecola awaits rescue from an inconsolable grief.
Beauty, truth and testosterone arrive in buckets when Rufus McSherry, a strapping, handsome artisan and all-around Renaissance Man, arrives in OLOF. Along with his apprentice, Rufus does more than blow dust off the old saint statues and frescoes. He turns the town upside down, galvanizes the faithful and restores hope where there was none.
