Home to Big Stone Gap
by Adriana Trigiani
List Price: $14.95
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780812967821
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Millions of readers around the world have fallen in love with the novels of the New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani. In Home to Big Stone Gap, she tells her most powerful story yet, full of humor and heart, wisdom and hope.
Nestled in the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the town of Big Stone Gap has been home for Ave Maria Mulligan Machesney and her family for generations. She's been married to her beloved Jack for nearly twenty years, raised one child and buried another, and run a business that binds her community together, all while holding her tight circle of family and friends close.
But with her daughter, Etta, having flown the nest to enchanting Italy, Ave Maria has reached a turning point. When a friend's postcard arrives with the message "It's time to live your life for you," Ave Maria realizes that it's time to go in search of brand-new dreams. But before she can put her foot on the path, her life is turned upside down.
Ave Maria agrees to helm the town musical, a hilarious reunion of local talent past and present. A lifelong friendship collapses when a mysterious stranger comes to town and reveals a long-buried secret. An unexpected health crisis threatens her family. An old heartthrob reappears, challenging her marriage and offering a way out of her troubles. An opportunistic coal company comes to town and threatens to undermine the town's way of life and the mountain landscape Ave Maria has treasured since she was a girl. Now she has no choice but to reinvent her world, her life, and herself, whether she wants to or not.
Trigiani is at her best in this exquisite page-turner. Home to Big Stone Gap is an emotional and unforgettable journey that reminds us that you can go home again and again.
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1. In one of the early scenes in Home to Big Stone Gap, Ave Maria's friend Theodore Tipton sends her a postcard that states, "Start living your life for YOU." By the end of the novel, has Ave Maria taken this advice?
2. When the prospect of using mountaintop removal as an alternative form of coal mining is raised to Ave Maria and her husband, Jack, Ave Maria is instantly against the idea. Do you think she has considered both sides? What exactly is at stake in her argument with Jack about this issue?
3. Why does Trigiani include the character of Randy in her novel? What is the significance of the similarities between Randy and Joe, as well as between Randy's mother and Ave Maria? What does Ave Maria learn from Randy?
4. Do you think it's fair for Ave Maria to confront Iva Lou about her mysterious past? What lasting effects does this experience have on Ave Maria and Iva's relationship? What would you do in the same situation?
5. According to Ave Maria's experience, a woman's method of coping is to "make things pretty when the road gets rocky," while Jack "wants facts, answers, and drop-dead ultimatums." Do you generally agree with her assessment of her husband? How do men and women deal with crises differently?
6. Reflecting upon Etta's move to Italy, Ave Maria says, "Maybe fate is the footwork of decisions made with loving intentions." Do you think this is true? What examples from the book support this claim? What examples challenge it?
7. How does the trip to Scotland affect Ave Maria's relationships with Etta and Jack? Do you feel that any transformations have occurred?
8. Bridges, both literal and figurative, are an important symbol throughout the novel. Why is one of Jack's goals to build a bridge? What sorts of bridges are constructed --- and dismantled --- throughout the course of the novel? Finally, how do you interpret Ave Maria's statement that "Jack needed to build it, if only to know the deep river that runs through Cracker's Neck Holler"?
9. Perhaps more so than any of the other novels in this series, Home to Big Stone Gap grapples with the theme of loss. One of Ave Maria's major challenges throughout the book is learning how to let go and come to terms with moving on. In what ways has she accomplished this by the end of the novel? In what ways is she still hanging on? How do Ave Maria's experiences compare with your own?
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"Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia is Big Stone Gap, the bucolic backdrop for Trigiani's popular series. With her original cast of characters, playwright and television writer Trigiani blends playfulness and pathos in this evocative portrait of a small southern town. Fans of the Big Stone Gap series can look forward to a feature film; Trigiani has written the screenplay and is slated to direct."
—Booklist, Starred Review
"The delightful Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap, Va., once again comes to life through the voice of Ave Maria MacChesney in Trigiani's fourth entry in the series. Memorable characters and smalltown magic (including recipes) continue to have appeal, but unwanted pregnancies, mountain strip-mining, the rearing up of old griefs and a trip to Scotland (given short shrift) have a kitchen-sink feel."
—Publishers Weekly
"Is there ever trouble for Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney, heroine of Trigiani's beloved Big Stone Gap novels, starting with her married daughter's move to Italy and leading right up to a stranger's disturbing appearance in town. With a ten-city tour."
—Library Journal
"Trigiani's novels, set in small-town Virginia, are about family and friends, love and loss as well as daily dilemas we all face - and they are utterly addictive."
—Glamour U.K.
"Must Read" - "Home to Big Stone Gap is as quirky and charming as her first novel. If you are not a fan already, you will be after this."
—Company, U.K.
"If you love curling up with charming tales of small towns and quirky characters, switch off with this."
—Cosmopolitan, U.K. Four stars.
