Big Stone Gap - Softcover

Trigiani, Adriana

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743440129 ISBN 13: 9780743440127

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2002

Synopsis

Big Stone Gap is a sleepy hamlet where kids get married and start families at eighteen, and stay for ever. So thirty-five-year old Ave Maria Mulligan is something of an oddity. A self-proclaimed spinster, as the local pharmacist she's been keeping the townsfolk's secrets for years. Now Ave Maria is about to discover a scandal in her own family's past that will blow the lid right off her quiet, uneventful life. Soon she's juggling two unexpected marriage proposals and conducting a no-holds-barred family feud. The thought of spending the rest of her life in Big Stone Gap is suddenly overwhelming... With an unforgettable cast of characters and a heroine with an extraordinary story to tell, all living in this quirky, remarkable town where even Elizabeth Taylor pays a visit, BIG STONE GAP is a wonderfully vibrant, unashamedly feel-good debut.

About this title

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.

Review

Sarah Jessica Parker Hilarious and romantic. I couldn't put it down -- a real page-turner

Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop CafÈ Funny, charming and original

John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Its characters are bizarre, its story is hilarious, and it hooked me on page one

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0743440129
• ISBN 13: 9780743440127
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368