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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345438324
ISBN number: 0345438329
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: April 03, 2001
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: April 03, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 95391
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
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 humour and wise notions of small-town life, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book with a giant heart. . . .
Amazon.com 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 favorite 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.' Her aunt who 'has a small head and thin lips. (That's a terrible combination.)' Adriana Trigiani's very 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 Taylour 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
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Rated by buyers 
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Being from the Big Stone Gap area myself, I found this book to be an absolute joy. Like the author, I now live in a large city and this book really took me back home and made me realize all over again that as long as you have happiness (and yes, you can find it at 35) you can live happily in a small "holler" in Southwest Virginia because you realize the things that truly matter in life. Overall, it made me slow down and reevaluate family, relationships, and the things that truly make me happy in life. Not many things in this fast paced life can make me do that so kudos again to the author.
As for the people and the area, it's 100% like the author describes. People are sincere and truly do care (and yes, get in everyone's business), the tiny town is extraordinarily beautiful, and people really do live in little stone houses in hollers.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone and I can't wait to pick up the sequel!
Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers -
Hook: An intriguing and heartwarming invite to a small mountain town in Virginia.
There are so many wonderful characters in Adriana's very first book in her series, you can't help but feel at home. In Big Stone Gap, you are invited in with ease and comfort, then given moments of laughter, action, and even tragedy.
A must read for anyone living in Southwest Virginia, you will not want to put this book down. Luckily Adriana continues this story in "Big Cherry Holler", "Milk Glass Moon" and "Home to Big Stone Gap"; all worth reading.
Want to spend the summer curled up under a shade tree with a good read? "Big Stone Gap" is the book for you!
Rated by buyers -
I received this book as a gift from a relative who said I would enjoy its ethnic aspects (we are Italian). He was right about the ethnic part, I loved the portrait of Mario Barberi and liked the descriptions of the other Italian relatives. All characters; however, including the Italians, speak and act within their stereotypes. Pearl is the ugly ducking who becomes a swan, Iva Lou is the earthy relationship advisor, Theodore the dedicated high school music teacher/band director, Jac Mac is the ideal workingman husband, etc.
I liked some of the descriptions such as how Theodore choreographed the half time marches, her mother's perfectionism, the culture of covered dishes, mining and mining rescue operations etc. But the major plot elements, such as how her mother got to the US, the fate of the pharmacy, and Jack Mac's ultimate gift aren't written in any convincing way, (probably because they aren't very realistic happenings).
The descriptions of small town America in the 1970's don't include one reference to TV, which I'm not certain how to take. The pharmacy is thriving at a time when local retail is most threatened from regional shopping malls.
The characters' conversatons and the plot line move in much the same way as TV sit coms. The nostalgic descriptions of this small town and the everywoman heroine with two fine suitors, probably qualify this as romantic escape literature. It is a fast moving read, light entertainment for a long flight (in my case) or a trip to the beach.
Rated by buyers -
At very first I thought this book was chick lit. But realized it has more substance. After I finished it, I thought I did not like it. But, the characters are still with me. It was very happily ever after. Which I usually don't like. But, it was a fun read. And much more substance than chick lit. I highly recommend it.
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