Trigiani tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the immigrant existence in “The Shoemaker’s Wife”.  The story begins with Eduardo and Ciro and although they are orphans living in a convent, they live the idyllic country life in their homeland of Italy.  But when the boys are kicked out of the convent, Ciro decides to claim his future by sailing to the harsh reality of New York City in the early 1900’s to learn the trade of making shoes.  Ciro woos many Italian girls in Little Italy but his mind still wanders to a girl back home named Enza.  Meanwhile Enza and her father, Marco, are forced to sail to New York, also, so that they can earn money and send it home to help make ends meet.  A chance meeting between Ciro and Enza changes everything.  Trigiani weaves a tale so believable and so immersive, I could not put this book down.  She documents the hard work and the scrupulous saving that they immigrants went through in order to realize their dreams.