- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st, First Edition edition (3 April 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345438329
- ISBN-13: 978-0345438324
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.6 x 20.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,063,793 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.
Review
This is a gentle and humorous story of Ave Maria Mulligan, whose incongruous name belies her awkward conformity in the small mountain town of Big Stone Gap. Unlike many of the townsfolk, Ave Maria did not marry in her teens and immediately start a family, but has carved a contented niche for herself, serving her community as the town pharmacist as well as volunteer emergency service provider and director of the town's big tourist attraction stage-play. Believing herself to be happy as the town's self-proclaimed spinster, she is shocked to discover emotions that she does not recognize when she learns her family secret, concealed from her long after her father's death, and only revealed in a posthumous letter from her mother. The letter kick-starts Ave Maria's curiosity and drive and awakens in her the realization that she has been suppressing her thoughts and feelings for too long. She sets about unravelling the confusion of her emotions and heads towards self-fulfilment and understanding, a study that some of her friends have already begun. Iva Lou Wade, who eats men for breakfast, and the dashing Theodore Tipton both understand Ave Maria better than she does herself, and with their individual brands of caring for her, Ave Maria emerges at the end of her 35th year a very differnet person from at the beginning. This romantic journey encompasses two marriage proposals, a bitter and angry family feud and a community's hopes, excitements (including a visit from Elizabeth Taylor!) and fears. Trigiani weaves an original and charming illustration of the old maxim that still waters run deep. (Kirkus UK)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
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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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format: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
Format: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
Format: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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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very good
Really enjoyable, sweet, well written. The central character is a strong woman undergoing somewhat of a crisis in her mid thirties but it's not full of angst or over the top. Read more
Published 18 months ago by rachelcreative
Beautiful tale, told with great compassion
This is a wonderful tale, the first in a trilogy, following the life of a small town community through the life of its pharmacist and the friends and adventures she gets up to. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Southern
good read
great book well recomended kept me gripped looking forward to buying more of her novels great twists and turns
Published on 28 Oct 2009 by Mrs. T. J. Evans
Pass the sick bag Doris
This is a Doris Day world with a backdrop of rolling Virginia mountains and small-town, picket-fence romance. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Unmemorable
I was recently given three titles in the Big Stone Gap series, this being the first I have just finished reading it. Read more
Published on 26 April 2009 by LindyLouMac
big stone gap
I read this book, and every other book of Adriana Trigiani and I enjoyed every single one. Big Stone Gap grabbed my intrest from page 1 and I could not put it down until I had... Read more
Published on 11 April 2009 by Siobhan Carson
Worth the wait
When I started reading this I was wondering when it was going to get started - when it did I couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2007 by Ladymoonlight
Can life begin at 35?
The story of a 35 year-old Italian-American self-proclaimed spinster in a small, town in the mountains of Virginia, who finally decides to open herself to life, to the people... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2007 by maria1971
Feel good reading, with a bit of bite.
Not the sort of book i would usually choose but i am glad i did. Excellent characters, beautiful descriptions and some nice heart warming nostalgia. Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2006 by evielumsden
Charming
This is a beautifully crafted tale of life, love, and all that comes between.
In comparison to the later Adriana Trigiani books (e. Read more
In comparison to the later Adriana Trigiani books (e. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2005 by Lucy Reynolds
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