Big Stone Gap: A Novel (Adriana Trigiani)

I lived in Big Stone Gap as a child and my uncle lives there to this day. I have been to the city many many times and overall it is a quaint little town. However the dipiction of the town and its people in the book is highly inaccraute. Maybe in 78 before I was born the town had more goings on but not anymore. Its bascially just a stopover between Norton City and Kingsport TN. I found the names in this book to be highly unusal...not a single surname in the book is a family I have heard of that lives in the Gap. Italian-Catholics are NOT really populus in Big Stone Gap or in any part of Southwest Virginia. The book seemed more about the main chacters inability to come to terms with her issues and her love life....not so much about the namesake of book (which is what I was hoping for). I actually got this book on audio CD and the author reads it...that is why I can't give it about 3 stars. The reading is horrid, very monotone and very slight varation of the different characters voices an... Read more

First time I've read this author. I saw her on NBC and she appeared to be a very down-to-earth, amusing person. I wasn't disappointed. I'm just glad my husband is from WVA; I could interpret what they were saying.:)

Sadly, I was disappointed with Big Stone Gap. While I loved the setting and small town feel, I greatly disliked Ave Maria Mulligan. Instead of a successful, independent, businesswoman, I found her to be a selfish, whining, self-absorbed woman who was dependent on not only the men in her life but her friends and employees as well. All her relationships, from Theodore and Jack, to Iva Lou and Pearl, seemed one sided. What did they have to offer her. She often wasn't there for them because she was busy wallowing in her own self-pity. Her distaste for Fred Mulligan was the nail in the coffin for me. Very disappointing and I wouldn't have finished this book if I hadn't been reading it for my book club. Hopefully, we won't have to read the sequal, I don't think I could take any more of Miss Mulligan/Mrs. MacChesney!

A book that draws you in to the characters and makes you want more. I understand there are several additional books about the same group of people. Read as a Book Group selection. Plan to find and read the others in the series.

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!