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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Very simple story, told in a very simple way. *Yawn*
3.5 stars
Nella Costelucca narrates her story of growing up on a farm in PA but loving school and wanting to be a teacher. However, her father's injury forces her to quit school and go to work at the blouse factory, where she thrives and prospers. Trigiani lets the reader into her characters lives, with all the twists and turns life's road takes.
Nella Costelucca narrates her story of growing up on a farm in PA but loving school and wanting to be a teacher. However, her father's injury forces her to quit school and go to work at the blouse factory, where she thrives and prospers. Trigiani lets the reader into her characters lives, with all the twists and turns life's road takes.
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books. I love the focus on Italy and their traditions and love of family.
It's been awhile since I've gotten back to Adriana Trigiani, & I forgot how much I loved her stories & how hard it is to explain why I like them so much. What I can say is that Queen of the Big Time is similar to Trigiani's other stories about hard-working emotionally isolated Italian American women.
Trigiani is one of the few authors my mom & I read together, mostly because my mom hardly ever finds the time to read a good book (I don't blame her, she's a busy woman). My aunt sent us an advanced proof of Big Stone Gap, the first book in the series about self-proclaimed spinster Ave Maria Mulligan and the sleepy Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap & we were both hooked. But I haven't read anything of hers since Milk Glass Moon, the last, & so far best installment in the Big Stone Gap series.
Queen of the Big Time follows the life of Nella Castelluca, middle daughter of Italian immigrant farmers in Roseto, Pennsylvannia. Nella's teenage years bring several challenges to Nella's family and force the talented girl to make decisions for the sake of her family, but contrary to her own dreams. As she adjusts to her new situation, Nella must descide if she should give her heart to the "ideal" but distant man or the "ordinary" but dependable one, a decision she struggles with throughout her life, as the man she thought she'd given up suddenly returns to her life in a way that neither of them can avoid.
A lot of the themes I like in the Big Stone Gap books reappeared in Queen of the Big Time. There was the requisite trip to Italy, the heroine's struggle with motherhood (one of the reasons I love reading her books with my mom), the struggle to hold onto old-world values while still desiring to keep up with the times, and above all, a dedication to family and community.
Trigiani's book are about such ordinary people in such ordinary communities, I always think it's strange that I get so excited about them. Maybe because they're so ordinary it's easier to identify with them. At least in Queen of the Big Time it makes sense for me to identify with the daughter of a hog farmer hoping to use her brains to get off the farm. I have no idea what I have in common with a 35-year-old Southern spinster of Italian ancestry in Big Stone Gap, but I found myself identifying with her too. So many times Trigiani's heroines' reactions feel like my own & their emotional struggles could have been pulled from my life. I don't know how she does it, and makes it feel so natural, but I love it & I can't wait for the next Big Stone Gap novel, Home To Big Stone Gap, comes out in October 2006.
Trigiani is one of the few authors my mom & I read together, mostly because my mom hardly ever finds the time to read a good book (I don't blame her, she's a busy woman). My aunt sent us an advanced proof of Big Stone Gap, the first book in the series about self-proclaimed spinster Ave Maria Mulligan and the sleepy Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap & we were both hooked. But I haven't read anything of hers since Milk Glass Moon, the last, & so far best installment in the Big Stone Gap series.
Queen of the Big Time follows the life of Nella Castelluca, middle daughter of Italian immigrant farmers in Roseto, Pennsylvannia. Nella's teenage years bring several challenges to Nella's family and force the talented girl to make decisions for the sake of her family, but contrary to her own dreams. As she adjusts to her new situation, Nella must descide if she should give her heart to the "ideal" but distant man or the "ordinary" but dependable one, a decision she struggles with throughout her life, as the man she thought she'd given up suddenly returns to her life in a way that neither of them can avoid.
A lot of the themes I like in the Big Stone Gap books reappeared in Queen of the Big Time. There was the requisite trip to Italy, the heroine's struggle with motherhood (one of the reasons I love reading her books with my mom), the struggle to hold onto old-world values while still desiring to keep up with the times, and above all, a dedication to family and community.
Trigiani's book are about such ordinary people in such ordinary communities, I always think it's strange that I get so excited about them. Maybe because they're so ordinary it's easier to identify with them. At least in Queen of the Big Time it makes sense for me to identify with the daughter of a hog farmer hoping to use her brains to get off the farm. I have no idea what I have in common with a 35-year-old Southern spinster of Italian ancestry in Big Stone Gap, but I found myself identifying with her too. So many times Trigiani's heroines' reactions feel like my own & their emotional struggles could have been pulled from my life. I don't know how she does it, and makes it feel so natural, but I love it & I can't wait for the next Big Stone Gap novel, Home To Big Stone Gap, comes out in October 2006.
Following the life of Nella Castelluca, Queen of the Big Time is has moments that bring a tear to the eye. It has love, ambition, passion, heart break, tradition, religion and more...
Worth a read
Worth a read
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Lovely story. I would have liked it if we lingered over Nella's adult life a bit more.
I'm currently about a quarter of the way through a re-read of this and I have no memory of reading it before! To be honest, the reason I'm fond of this book is that my mother grew up in Roseto and my family spent a lot of time there when I was growing up. I have been on all of these streets. My grandmother's maiden name was Pagano. We use moppeens. I have nothing but the most loving and fond memories of "growing up" in Roseto. Upon rereadng (and I'm not done yet) I think the writing is somewhat stilted. But I love reading about a place that had so much influence on me and brings happy memories of all of my wonderful family.
I'm currently about a quarter of the way through a re-read of this and I have no memory of reading it before! To be honest, the reason I'm fond of this book is that my mother grew up in Roseto and my family spent a lot of time there when I was growing up. I have been on all of these streets. My grandmother's maiden name was Pagano. She married a Menecola. We use moppeens. I have nothing but the most loving and fond memories of "growing up" in Roseto.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2272907/#4590929
I am heartbroken. I really loved this book, as I do all of Trigiani's books. I cried throughout and really felt a lot for these characters. She always manages to draw me in by creating real life characters with real life problems and issues. So relatable. Sometimes the skipping forward was frustrating, but there were so many years to get in to have this full of a book. I was only frustrated because I felt I was missing chunks of time, and I loved every minute with these characters.