Sunday Book Review: Big Stone Gap

Big Stone Gap, by Adriana Trigiani

This was another book club read. I’ve only read Trigiani’s short stories prior to this. In all sincerity, I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It was a light and happy read, and full of quirky, small-town characters that made you laugh and love ‘em all at the same time. The storyteller, Ave Maria Mulligan, was one of my favorite, of course. She thought of herself as the town spinster, but had two marriage proposals by book’s end and it was easy to see that happily-ever-after was going to be right around the corner.

I am inspired by characters like Ave Maria who are just plain good to the bone. She had her hang-ups, but her sincerity more than made up for it. The way she treated each and every person in town like a worthy and decent human being is the way all people should behave toward one another. I was surprised to learn that Big Stone Gap is a real town, and there is a movement underway to have the movie Big Stone Gap filmed in the actual town of Big Stone Gap.

Big Stone Gap is the first in a series of novels. My to-read plate is pretty full right now, but I enjoyed this one enough that the rest of the series has been added to my list.