Customer Reviews

Home to Big Stone Gap

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is Adriana's best novel to date. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the Big Stone Gap series or for anyone who is looking for a wonderful story about good people, family relationships and the day to day challanges we all face. All of your favorites are back for new adventures and heartwarming tales with Ave and Jack. Reading this book is like having a nice visit with old friends! I look forward to more books in this series and other novels by Adriana. Her stories are always beautifully told and a joy to read.

Most of us last spent time with the MacChesneys four years ago, when "Milk Glass Moon' was released. "Home to Big Stone Gap" gives us a chance to catch up with our old friends in southwestern Virginia. Now that her daughter Etta is married and living in Italy, Ave Maria experiences all manner of mid-life empty-nest worries: about health, about mortality, about marriage, about family, about friends. At the same time that she thinks she's lost her daughter, a dear friend discovers hers. And who knew that Jack Mac dreamed of visiting Scotland? This is another satisfying read from Ms. Trigiani, one that's sure to provoke readers into reconsidering some of their own views of Life. Though it can be read as a stand-alone title, those new to the series may want to go back and read the first three: "Big Stone Gap," "Big Cherry Holler," and "Milk Glass Moon." Then they will know "the rest of the story."

Fans of Big Stone Gap, Big Cherry Holler & Milk Glass Moon won't be disappointed in the 4th installment of the series. Home to Big Stone Gap is like going home again, to beloved friends and family members. Adriana Trigiani continues the story with her wonderful knack of storytelling that is charming, cozy and real. Once again, the last page will leave you wanting more.

I loved my trip back to Big Stone Gap! I read HOME TO BIG STONE GAP in a couple of days finding it hard to put down and anticipating what was to come next. It was very well written both for content and execution but I wanted more and so I bought the CD. Adriana Trigiani is a natural! She doesn't simply read the story but "acts it out" via each character. I found myself laughing with tears in my eyes. I wish everyone could both read the book and listen to the CD for total enjoyment.

Some series weaken with each continuing novel, but not this one! Trigiani takes the familiar characters and back stories of the first three books, and uses them to create all-new episodes in the lives of Ave Maria, Jack Mac, Iva Lou, Fleeta and the other Big Stone Gap citizens.

This novel picks up with Ave Maria's return home, following Etta's wedding in Italy. She's barely had time to adjust to having her daughter gone, when signs of serious illness begin to appear within Jack. Meanwhile, Ave Maria's agreed to take on the annual town play for the first time in years...and a mysterious stranger from Iva Lou's past threatens to break up Ave Maria and Iva Lou's decades-old friendship.

Even if you haven't read the first three books, you'll want to give this one a try. It's hard to put down!

If you love great storytelling, loveable yet complex characters, vivid holiday descriptions, and a plot full of secrets (and recipes), then this book is for you. Adriana has concocted a book that's filled with love and pathos which adds up to the best Big Stone Gap novel yet. Think you know everything about the citizens of this Virginia hamlet? Think again. You'll find redemption, surprises, change, adventure, and the holiday spirit within the covers of this book and it shouldn't be missed. Even if you haven't read the other BSG novels, this is a great place to start. And who could resist that beautiful cover?!?

The characters in the Big Stone Gap novels have very human flaws and failings, but most of them are redeemed by a great generosity of spirit. They give to and forgive one another as they face sadnesses such as illness, the joys of wedding celebrations, or the triumph of successful community theater productions. Readers who are familiar will welcome the return of Ave, Jack Mac, Iva Lou, Fleeta and other beloved characters who live in and/or return to Big Stone Gap. Secrets are uncovered and sadnesses are soothed by time, kind deeds, and home cooking. My only complaint is that the book doesn't completely stand on its own. I have read the first two Big Stone Gap novels, but missed the third, so I was a bit confused at times. However, I certainly plan to remedy my error and read "Milk Glass Moon," the third in the series, as soon as possible.

Adriana Trigiani has given her many fans a real treat with this addition to the Big Stone Gap series. She once again takes us to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the life of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney and her husband, Jack. Life is changing for Ave Maria and she is having a hard time accepting it. Her beloved only daughter Etta has married an Italian and is living in his native country. Jack is being approached by a businessman whom Ave Maria considers a crook, and his health is also beginning to suffer. She has a falling out with her best friend, Iva Lou, who has kept a secret from her for many years. Since she has perfected the art of worrying, this has given Ave Maria a lot to worry about. As if this isn't enough, she is asked to direct a community production of "The Sound of Music" with a rag tag bunch of amateurs. Somehow she survives all of this and begins to embrace her husband Jack's more accepting and laid-back attitude. When she begins to acknowledge her inability to control events around her, she relaxes and starts to enjoy her friends and family in a way she never has before. This book lovingly looks at deep and personal issues which all women face at one time or another, and manages to provide the reader with a lot of chuckles along the way. This is highly recommended reading.

[...]
Since it's been about four years since we last left our friends from Big Stone Gap (in MILK GLASS MOON), the chance to reconnect with old, dear friends like these feels like a rare, treasured opportunity you want to savor slowly. Readers of the Big Stone Gap series know that her characters, particularly protagonist Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney, also feel like family.

The novel opens with the return of Ave Maria and Jack to their home in Big Stone Gap after the wedding of their daughter, Etta, in Italy. Ave Maria is struggling with "empty nest" syndrome, as she has a hard time adjusting to the realization that her daughter's happiness resides half a world away in Italy with her new husband. Ave Maria also struggles with her worries for her husband, whose many years as a coal miner have taken their toll on his health. And a long-held secret comes to the surface, threatening the relationship between Ave Maria and her longtime friend, Iva Lou.

To say more about the plotline of HOME TO BIG STONE GAP would ruin it, because much of the joy here is in the unexpected --- like taking a walk through your long-forgotten hometown and rounding the corner, only to bump into your best friend from your school days. As is fast becoming her trademark, Trigiani includes a few recipes fresh from the kitchens of Big Stone Gap --- including one for Shorty Johnson's Biscuits and Gravy that I'm hoping to try this weekend --- that undoubtedly will inspire some fans to try to bring the taste of Big Stone Gap to their own tables.

If it's been a long time since you've been back to Big Stone Gap, this latest arrival is a great reason to dust off your well-thumbed copies and read through them again to get yourself reacquainted. And if you have a book-loving friend who's never met Ave Maria, Jack Mac, Iva Lou, Theodore Tipton, Fleeta and the rest, Trigiani's publisher has just reissued the first three novels in lovely trade paperback editions.

There's nothing like inviting friends to come home for the holidays, and this latest offering from Adriana Trigiani makes it a wonderful homecoming indeed.

--- Reviewed by Lourdes Orive

Here I am a book lover and had not read any of Adriana Trigiani's books. Luckily I started with her series on Big Stone Gap. There are 3 of them. Read these first, then finish with the Home to Big Stone Gap. She is a witty but insightful author. She brings chuckles, tears and even good recipe's to the reader. You will not be disapointed!