Rating: 
Summary: A pleasant surprise...
Review: I was given this book by a friend who knew of a family connection I have to the Gap. I wasn't expecting much, but needed a break of the boatload of mindbinding nonfiction I was working through. Last weekend (during the summer), I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. After a few pages, I didn't want to put it down and, though I pretty much knew what was coming, I really enjoyed the read. I'm looking forward to Trigiani's sequel and now plan to explore Amazon for similar works of fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Ravenous Reader's 10th selection
Review: We have just finished reading this book for our Book Club. I am happy I have discovered yet another new author who knows how to add just the right ingredients into making a novel!This covered many subjects within its small number of pages and it does go to show that goodness does come back in various forms to those who do good for others. Ave Maria was a wonderfully rich and warm character, who typifies so many of us real women, minus the glamour and perfect figures. She evolves to reveal that family is the purest form of reward in our lives. I learned there is a sequel out, and I ran out to buy it because I did not want to wait for it to come out in paperback. I look forward to reading it and hope it is as good as this one was.
Rating:
Summary: Been there and loved it!
Review: My mom-in-law is from Big Stone Gap which was why I bot the book. I've visited the Gap and could picture some of the country side as I read the book. You don't have to be familiar with area to enjoy this book though. Big Stone Gap is an easy enjoyable read. I couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost myself in Big Stone Gap
Review: Lovely reading experience. I found myself up until 2:00 am finishing this book. And then reread my favorite parts so I could prolong the experience. Has all the best qualities of a legendary book. The secondary characters were so real you found yourself wondering how it all ended for them. If they all got what they deserved and longed for. I laughed out loud, I cheered the outcome..This is real life the way it should be. I am always a sucker for happy endings. Greatly recommended. READ THIS BOOK. You'll be glad you did.
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Summary: please write more adriana!!
Review: I fell absolutely in love with Ave Maria. After reading this novel I had no choice but to read the sequel Big Cherry Holler. It has been three weeks since reading this novel and I still find myself thinking about her and all of the characters in this book. Ave Maria expressed opinions and feelings that I thought only I experienced. There are moments in the book that seem a little contrived but the overall emotion of this book overcomes this flaw.
Rating: 
Summary: Peculiar
Review: And sadly, not in the good way. There are times when reading this novel was like eating rice pudding mixed with ground glass - tasty at times and terrifying at others because you don't know what you're about to swallow.
Rating:
Summary: Great audio
Review: By this, the 80th review, everyone knows the story of "Big Stone Gap" so I am not going to re-hash it. I will say that I loved the story of Ave Maria. Having just read stories of strong, independent women in Elizabeth Berg's "Never Change" and JoAnn Mapson's "Bad Girl Creek", this fit right in with them. I had no interest in reading this as a book, but bought the abridged audio for a car trip and was entranced by the story. Maybe the book would have been too long. This seemed just right, and it was a good audio too. By this, I mean that here were no gaps in the story as sometimes happens with abridged audios and Trigiani did a masterful job of narrating. I was delighted to meet all of the characters who lived and worked in Big Stone Gap!
Rating:
Summary: Love, life and wonderful writing!!
Review: This was a wonderful novel about a young woman in a small mountain town in Virgina. Her name is Ave Maria. She is fiercly independent but is afraid that she is missing something critical in her life, and she always feels like an outsider. Ave Maria runs a pharmacy and is on the Rescue Squad. She spends all her time helping to take care of everyone and everything, when her world is turned upside down. A mysterious letter appears. She learns things about her past and then about her future, and most of all about life, the big picture!! While she has two men in her life, she has no one special to trust and love. This is where the story starts. The people of Big Stone Gap are so real and so whacky you begin to feel that you have met some of them somewhere. The feelings and thoughts expressed by the people are so open and honest that you feel you have listened in on private conversations. Several sentiments professed in this beautiful novel were very profound, like when one of them says that the best thing a father can do for his son is to love the mother. The scene between Ave Maria and her father's sister, when they are discussing hiring lawyers was so vivid that when you are done your stomach is in a knot, as if you were standing nearby when it happened. The strongest and most emotional part for me was when Ave Maria talks about her relationship with her mother, it was so perfectly explained and so beautiful. Adriana Trigiana is a truly gifted author, with the ability to evoke pure emotion in her writing. I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: a perfect summer read
Review: The seemingly thin plot thickens as you go, but fails to take away from the charm of this mountain community. The character development is excellent, and their names were delightful: Ave Maria, Iva Lou, Tayloe. You're in for a treat with this one!
Rating:
Summary: Mountain Magic
Review: 35-year-old Ave Maria Mulligan has grown up in the tiny Virginia mountain town of Big Stone Gap with her Italian mother and moody, reserved father. She lives through her books, a small assortment of colorful friends, her work as a pharmacist, and her hobby of the ancient Chinese art of face reading. Content with her lot, the feisty Ave Maria is resigned to the life of a small-town spinster. And then, suddenly, on one fateful day in 1978, her life makes a 360-degree sea change. Ave Maria is both shocked and thrilled to learn that she is not the person she always assumed herself to be, nor is her fate to be that which she had envisioned. The reader is indebted to the talented Adriana Trigiani for her richly textured, perfectly lyrical prose as we follow Ave Maria on her journey of self-discovery, renewal, and growth. Ave Maria's evolution is a joy to read and the twists and turns which lead her to new planes are purely magical. I will not do the potential reader the disservice of divulging the surprises destiny has in store for Ave Maria. Rather, I will simply advise you to get this treasure of a book ASAP and discover for yourself the beautiful elixir conjured up by Ms. Trigiani from the soil and stone of the Virginia mountains (where I am proud to live).
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