Big Stone Gap: A Novel

by Adriana Trigiani

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Series

Big Stone Gap (1)

Genres

Publication

Ballantine Books (2001), Edition: 1st Thus., 304 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER �?� Now a major motion picture written and directed by Adriana Trigiani, starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, John Benjamin Hickey, Jane Krakowski, Anthony LaPaglia, and Jenna Elfman �??Charming . . . Readers would do well to fall into the nearest easy chair and savor the story.�?��??USA Today Millions of readers around the world have fallen in love with the small town of Big Stone Gap, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and the story of its self-proclaimed spinster, Ave Maria Mulligan. In the series�?? enchanting debut, Ave Maria reaches her thirty-fifth year and resigns herself to the single life, filling her days with hard work, fun friends, and good books. Then, one fateful day, Ave Maria�??s past opens wide with the revelation of a long-buried secret that will alter the course of her life. Before she knows it, Ave Maria is fielding marriage proposals, trying to claim her rightful inheritance, and planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy�??one that will change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Full of wit and wonder, hilarity and heart, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book, and one that you will share with friends and fami… (more)

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Rating

½ (791 ratings; 3.6)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mzonderm

I started this book with high hopes; I'd heard such good things about Trigiani's other books (especially Lucia, Lucia). But I was more than a little disappointed. I found the writing to be trite, and the characters' behavior too often inexplicable.

This book is supposedly about how Ave Maria, the

"town spinster" of Big Stone Gap, finds herself and finds love over the course of a year. I suppose that she does, but there were too many improbable things in the story to make either of her discoveries believable.

One discovery that is believable: after her mother dies, Ave Maria is given a letter that her mother wrote and left in the care of her lawyer. The letter explains that the man Ave Maria has thought of as her father (who died many years before the story begins), isn't, and that her real father is an Italian man that her mother had to leave behind when she became pregnant. So far, fine. Part of what results is that the family of her erstwhile father come clamoring for what they see is now their inheritance, including the house Ave Maria grew up in and the pharmacy business she now owns and runs. What does Ave Maria do? Rather than fighting this based on the fact that her father's will gave all of his property to her mother, who then gave it to her (although this is mentioned), Ave Maria chooses to protect the assets from the grubbing relatives by transferring the whole thing to her 16-year-old assistant! And as if that weren't improbable enough, she then begins to separate herself from the every-day running of the business and leaves it in the teenager's "capable hands"!

Moving on. At 35, Ave Maria is thought of by the town and by herself as a spinster. She prizes herself on her independence, although she wishes she could fall in love with someone who would want to marry her. But, when someone she's known since childhood suddenly proposes to her, she says no, thinking that he's only asking her out of pity, or is playing some kind of trick on her (this I found eminently believable, because if someone up and proposed to me without any sign that they had any special feelings for me, I'd feel the same way!). The man in question gets mightily offended, but doesn't stop trying. Unfortunately, he also doesn't really do anything to demonstrate that he's loved her since they were children (we don't find this out until much later). So why should either we, as readers, much less Ave Maria, believe that he's madly in love with her. Apparently, all her friends knew he was in love her, but we're not told any single thing that he did to demonstrate it. What's more, they apparently knew that she was in love with him, even though we're not told what she may have said or done to give that away. And, none of them will tell her what they've so sneakily observed. Ave Maria does eventually feel all the love, and they get married quickly, and seem very happy. Which is great. Except I don't believe it.

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LibraryThing member lincroft

I liked it. Maybe it was a cultural thing but I could identify with Ave Maria in some ways.

LibraryThing member TanyaTomato

Nope not for me - too cutesy, and to many parenthesized phrases (what's with that, huh?). I liked Lucia, Lucia so I thought I'd try another, but it didn't work out.

LibraryThing member Sink222

Pretty good "book club read" liked the trilogy. Slow at first, but kicked in a bit. I enjoyed it

LibraryThing member Brandie

Cute book ... I really enjoyed it.
Not sure if I wil read the follow-up book though. I read part of it from the back and, well, it didn't grab me like this one did! Maybe someday ...

LibraryThing member bellalibrarian

Big Stone Gap was an easy read, but it's endearing southern characters make you want to learn even more about them. Onto the next title in the trilogy...

LibraryThing member kellyoliva

Big Stone Gap is an easy, amusing read with quirky, memorable characters. However, it does lack the momentum of an exceptional story that leaves the reader completely satisfied. It is easy to love Ave Maria, the novel's protagonist, yet the love story that Trigiani weaves for her is drawn-out and

overly sentimental. I found the plot line to be weak and, in some places, too unrealistic. The book did not hold my interest throughout, and, though I bought the second book along with the first, I am unsure that I will read the sequel. Overall, I found this book to be a disappointing read.

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LibraryThing member debavp

Excellent!! Just the right mix of humor and sadness. Great character development. Can't wait to read the next installment!

LibraryThing member brightspark

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, (there was something about the cover that put me off) but was very pleasantly suprised. I liked the characters, and it had a good story-line. Had to stop myself from reading the second one straight away.

LibraryThing member lorin77

This is pretty light piece of froth, but in general I liked it. Some things had me scratching my head (you love him? really?), but the characters are sweet and likeable. Plus, I am from Virginia, and am familiar with the area this book is set in (I went to school in the foothills, though I grew up

in the Tidewater, not the mountains, where this book is set). I always like reading books that are set in familiar locales.

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LibraryThing member turtlesleap

This is not a book that will make you think but is, nevertheless a pleasant book to read. There is humor here although some of Trigiani's representations of regional characteristics are a bit overdone. The characters seem real and likeable and the story is intriguing enough to keep the reader's

attention engaged. That said, the story also becomes a bit tedious in places. I found myself paging rapidly through some parts of the book, thinking, "just get on with it!" more often than I would have liked. Still, I'd recommend it to a friend.

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

An interesting, light quirky love story, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where events are conspiring to rock Ave Maria Mulligan out of her comfortable existence. Undemanding, leaves you quite happy with having read it.

LibraryThing member silenceiseverything

Okay, so I love books about the South. I don't know what it is about them that makes me love them so. Maybe it's the small-town charm that most books about the South have or maybe the quirky characters that I always end up adoring. Or maybe it's just simply the locale. Frankly, I think it's just

all of it. Sigh, they really do make me want to live in the South (even though I'm sure I'd miss the cozy New England winters), but until then, I can just live vicariously through books like Big Stone Gap.

I just loved Big Stone Gap. I loved and adored every single one of these characters. But I really identified with Ave Maria (Plus I think it sort of helped that I pictured Ave as Paget Brewster due to the many Criminal Minds marathon that I've been watching and I adore Paget Brewster). So, she's the town-spinster; 35 and never been married. And I identified with her because I usually find myself exasperated when people (mainly my family) usually start off a conversation with "You're pretty. I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend." Which then, of course, continues on with "What exactly is wrong with you that you don't seem at all bothered by this?"

Okay, so I'm 21 and while I have had boyfriends, they weren't anything serious. I'm a college student and don't really want to focus on having a serious relationship right now, yet everyone else acts as if this is a cardinal sin. Ave Maria was also in this situation. She's so focused on what everyone else wants that she's not really sure what she wants, herself. Due to this, I ended up loving Ave Maria even more because she was so deliciously flawed on top of being funny and quirky. I really didn't mind one bit being in her head.

Now, back to the other characters. Let's start off with the men. Theodore and Jack: sigh. Seriously, I don't think they could've been written anymore swoon-worthy. Theodore was just the most amazing best friend and just so cute and cuddly. And Jack was just adorable and was such great boyfriend/husband material. I really just fell in love with both of them. And I totally loved the relationship that Ave had with both men. The romance was also so squee and aww-worthy. Oddly enough, the non-romance fan in me really enjoyed the relationship.

I loved Pearl, Fleeta, and Iva Lou (the book-lover in me loved Iva and her bookmobile to bits and pieces). Again I state that I adore quirky characters and these were all just so well-written. Every single one of the characters in Big Stone Gap had such great personalities and they, in turn, brought out another facet of Ave Maria's personality and it was all so great.

So, yeah, I have much love for Big Stone Gap. There is no doubt in my mind that I'll be re-reading this one for years to come and it'll be like being reunited with old friends. This is just the kind of Southern charm I look for when reading a book about the South (down to craving the corn muffins). Big Stone Gap is highly recommended and I for one can't wait to read the other installments.

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LibraryThing member MsBeautiful

Enjoyed reading about the culture in the book's setting

LibraryThing member vegetarianlibrarian

Once I started this one I couldn't put it down. It has Italians! Which I love. And hilarious charming small town characters. It's heartwarming and feel-good, but not sappy. Although it does have that really annoying Myth of the Small Town Single Man, the one who is just waiting for the gal to open

her eyes and see his love, and also he is really hot. But this book is a real charmer.

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LibraryThing member Blakelyn

There is nothing better to me than a good, southern novel. This one fits the bill. Set in Big Stone Gap, VA, it tells the story of Ave Maria, the self-proclaimed "Town Spinster", who runs the pharmacy in town and is grieving the recent loss of her mother. Her world takes a sharp turn when she

learns that the man she knew as her father, who didn't quite live up to his responsibilities, was never her real father after all. Once Ave finds her real dad, and subsequently "finds herself", all the pieces of her life seem to fall into place.

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LibraryThing member InsatiableB

Cute story. Cute setting. Cute characters. Cute writing. Cute cute cute.
This was a feel-good book that touched on some tough, real-life issues but mostly made for a wonderful light read.
What I love the most: there are two more books in the series and I'm off to hunt for them!

LibraryThing member tloeffler

Ave Maria Mulligan is the town pharmacist in Big Stone Gap, VA. When her mother dies, she leaves a letter telling her big secret, which changes everything Ave Maria always knew about herself. This is a fun little story of life in the mountains, with all the attendant personalities. Sometimes Ave

Maria acts stupidly, but she realizes it eventually, and of course there's a happy ending. This was a good book to read when I found myself in need of a little fluff.

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LibraryThing member khiemstra631

I love this book so I decided to listen to it again on yet another drive to a dog show. It was just as good the second time around, like visiting with old friends. In eight years time, one forgets a lot of the details while remembering the important parts. I highly recommend this one if you have

not already indulged.

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LibraryThing member Cailin

I saw this book several times and never had any interest in reading it until I saw an interview with the author, Adriana Trigiani. She seemed such a down to earth and charming person that my interest was piqued. I am happy I picked it up! It's a sweet story of Ave Maria Mulligan and her journey to

finding herself. The story is at times, sad, sweet, and hilarious. I especially enjoyed the peripheral characters like Iva Lou and Pearl. I have since gotten the rest of the books in this series, along with a couple more and am looking forward to reading those.

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LibraryThing member susanbevans

This is a great book - small town America at it's best (and worst.) You will fall in love with the characters - they are amazing!

LibraryThing member kerinlo

For the most part I liked this book and I enjoyed reading it. I found the main character and the supporting characters to be interesting and quirky. I especially liked Trigiani's style and her descriptions of small town life in the Virginia mountains. However, by the end of the book, I found Ave

Maria to be a tad irritating because she is so thickheaded about her relationship with Jack Mac (who sounds like heaven!). I found Ave Maria's character to have a lopsided evolution and her inability to see what is in front of her to be irritating and unbelievable. I did root for her character to find happiness, but to also quit the whining. If Theodore is such a good friend, why doesn't he just tell her truth already?

The book also seems to push too much into the last 30 pages and seems to be trying to wrap things up too quickly.

This is a good Sunday afternoon read.

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LibraryThing member beckyetal

I liked this book because the main character reminds me so much of me. Hope my story ends this happy! It is a simple story with enough surprises to keep you reading. Sometimes the characterization borders on stereotypes but it's okay, keeps a magical, fairy-tale quality in the story.
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LibraryThing member jellyish

The Big Stone gaps has such delightful, real characters. I loved this whole series!

LibraryThing member tipsister

Big Stone Gap, by Adriana Trigiani, is a charming novel with a wonderful cast of characters. The main character is Ave Maria, a thirty-five year old pharmacist who considers herself the town spinster. After her mother passes away, she learns the truth about who she really is and that the man who

raised her was not her biological father. As her world tilts beyond what she has always known, she finds herself letting go of her past and looking toward the future for the first time in her life.

The characters that make up the town add so much to the charm of the novel. It wouldn't be the same without Iva Lou, Pearl, or Theodore. There is even a cameo by Elizabeth Taylor! If I have any complaint, it's that it took a while to get to the romance. Ave was just way too stubborn!

This is the first novel I've read by Adriana Trigiani and I enjoyed it. It is a sweet story and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys smiling!

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