- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st, First Edition edition (3 April 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345438329
- ISBN-13: 978-0345438324
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 1.6 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,883,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In the town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, not much happens. The highlight of 35-year-old Ave Maria Mulligan's week comes on Friday, with the arrival of the Bookmobile, the sight of which sends her into raptures. Her favourite book concerns the ancient Chinese art of reading faces. Through her face-readings, we come to understand the hostilities simmering within her family: her father whose small eyes are the clear "sign of a deceptive nature" and her aunt who "has a small head and thin lips. (That's a terrible combination)". Adriana Trigiani's first novel concerns the family scandals that befall Ave Maria in this seemingly uneventful town. Greed, lust, envy--all the ancient emotional elements--manifest themselves even in this hamlet of "ordinary folk". Fans of Fannie Flagg or Rebecca Wells will enjoy this down-home tale, full of small, everyday details and colloquial revelations. The writing is often awkward, but so too are the characters who inhabit this place: the Bookmobile lady who thinks of herself as the sexiest woman alive; the amateur actors in the local Outdoor Drama who bristle with ambition when they hear that Elizabeth Taylor is coming to visit. In Big Stone Gap, her visit is so anticipated, it's like she's an angel sent from heaven. --Ellen Williams, Amazon.com.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the tiny town of Big Stone Gap is home to some of the most charming eccentrics in the state. Ave Maria Mulligan is the town's self-proclaimed spinster, a thirty-five year old pharmacist with a "mountain girl's body and a flat behind." She lives an amiable life with good friends and lots of hobbies until the fateful day in 1978 when she suddenly discovers that she's not who she always thought she was. Before she can blink, Ave's fielding marriage proposals, fighting off greedy family members, organizing a celebration for visiting celebrities, and planning the trip of a lifetime—a trip that could change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Brimming with humor and wise notions of small-town life, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book with a giant heart. . . .
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This will be a good weekend for reading. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
This will be a good weekend for reading. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really enjoyable book.,
By
This review is from: Big Stone Gap: A Novel (Big Stone Gap Saga 1) (Paperback)
Big Stone Gap leaves you feeling good, and is the kind of book that by the time you've finished it you really feel as if you really know the place and the characters. It has a great mix of humour and emotion (the odd tear was shed). It is not taxing, just a very enjoyable book. I read it over a couple of days on the way to work and it certainly made the journey go faster (I also just bought a copy for my Mum). As a reader who likes authors like Anita Shreve, I'll defintely be looking out for other books by Adriana Trigiani, let's hope she keeps writing!
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Big Stone Gap,
By Angela (Crieff, Perthshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Big Stone Gap: A Novel (Big Stone Gap Saga 1) (Paperback)
I bought this book and the sequel "Big Cherry Holler" on a whim and read both books in a week. I couldn't put them down. I loved them both in equal measure and found the main character Ave Maria Mulligan both lovable and irritating as she tries to sort out her life. Iva Lou was a great creation and Jack Mac has to be one of the most instantly fanciable characters in modern literature! I thought the author's ability to let us glimpse a portion of life in the Blue Ridge Mountains was exceptional. Any book that makes you laugh out loud and cry real tears has to be worth reading. Go on, spoil yourself!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable and satisfying,
By OllyOctopus (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Big Stone Gap: A Novel (Big Stone Gap Saga 1) (Paperback)
I bought this on a whim as I saw the third part of the trilogy, and was intrigued. This is such a great read. Ave Maria feels like a real person telling her story - she has a history of people who all add to the story, and add to her character. The townsfolk are not stereotypes, they have flaws and strengths, and secrets adding to the story's interest. You don't often read about pharmacists and librarians so it feels refreshing. Jack Mac was my favourite man - I can see him totally! But Theodore is a male friend, and such a good friend - yet the author also shows the problems of sex and friendship. The story is about family secrets, the feeling of being a spinster in your thirties, and the need for change in your thirties before you feel middle aged. It's spot on! Ave Maria is an Italian descendent, and for me, lit up the book with her Italian character - like Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. I read this in a couple of days, staying up late, and lying in late. I was annoyed I had to get out of bed to be honest. Can't wait to read Big Cherry Holler (and there's a sneaky start at the end of this book, so I NEED to read on!).
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