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sarahanne8382 's review for:
Big Stone Gap
by Adriana Trigiani
This is the book that started my mom's & my love for Adriana Trigiani. I decided to reread the whole Big Stone Gap series in anticipation of the new installment, Home to Big Stone Gap. Rereading a book I got ten years ago was really fun. Generally I don't reread books because there are too many new books out there for me to read, but maybe I'll have to try it more often.
Big Stone Gap is the story of 35-year-old town spinster Ave Maria Mulligan. The story is set in the small Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia in the late 1970s. Clearly I was in love with the small town aspects of the story. There is certainly a charming cast of eccentric supporting characters, although they're really minimized in the abridged audiobook I listened to, which is a shame.
Ave Maria's the town pharmacist who's never quite felt like she fit into the life of Big Stone Gap. Her mother was born in Italy and somehow Ave Maria inherited her "foreignness" even though she was born in Virginia. While you miss out on a lot of interesting local color in the audiobook, it did help me focus on Ave Maria's personal struggles as the book is told from her perspective and spends a lot of time with her internal monologues.
It also happens to be a romance, although a very reluctant one. You don't get to be the town spinster without avoiding romance at all costs. Despite the fact that I married relatively young, I still identify with Ave Maria, I worried that I would when I read the book in high school. It's so surprising to reread her romantic development now that I'm old enough to have actually had some romance myself. I never been able to understand why as a teenager I loved the story of this 35-year-old so much, but I think it has something to do with the fact that Ave Maria is about as romantically developed as a teenager. She's spent so long shutting people out, that she's never really figured out the give and take that's part of romantic relationships.
Plus, in other areas of her life, she really does remind me of me - loves to read, hard-working small town girl, dutiful daughter and all around nice quiet unassuming good girl. She also happens to be best friends with the town librarian, who does anything but fit the typical old-cat-lady stereotype. Iva Lou Wade is essentially Samantha on Sex in the City, except 20 years ago & in rural Virginia.
One other quick thing that hasn't been mentioned, this is the book that made me fall in love with Italy. It plays a relatively small role in this book, yet it all seems so wonderful that I've wanted to visit northern Italy ever since I read it.
Big Stone Gap is the story of 35-year-old town spinster Ave Maria Mulligan. The story is set in the small Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia in the late 1970s. Clearly I was in love with the small town aspects of the story. There is certainly a charming cast of eccentric supporting characters, although they're really minimized in the abridged audiobook I listened to, which is a shame.
Ave Maria's the town pharmacist who's never quite felt like she fit into the life of Big Stone Gap. Her mother was born in Italy and somehow Ave Maria inherited her "foreignness" even though she was born in Virginia. While you miss out on a lot of interesting local color in the audiobook, it did help me focus on Ave Maria's personal struggles as the book is told from her perspective and spends a lot of time with her internal monologues.
It also happens to be a romance, although a very reluctant one. You don't get to be the town spinster without avoiding romance at all costs. Despite the fact that I married relatively young, I still identify with Ave Maria, I worried that I would when I read the book in high school. It's so surprising to reread her romantic development now that I'm old enough to have actually had some romance myself. I never been able to understand why as a teenager I loved the story of this 35-year-old so much, but I think it has something to do with the fact that Ave Maria is about as romantically developed as a teenager. She's spent so long shutting people out, that she's never really figured out the give and take that's part of romantic relationships.
Plus, in other areas of her life, she really does remind me of me - loves to read, hard-working small town girl, dutiful daughter and all around nice quiet unassuming good girl. She also happens to be best friends with the town librarian, who does anything but fit the typical old-cat-lady stereotype. Iva Lou Wade is essentially Samantha on Sex in the City, except 20 years ago & in rural Virginia.
One other quick thing that hasn't been mentioned, this is the book that made me fall in love with Italy. It plays a relatively small role in this book, yet it all seems so wonderful that I've wanted to visit northern Italy ever since I read it.