by Clare Stella
Member since:
January 15, 2006

Do You Enjoy Books in a Series? Read Big Stone Gap.

April 14, 2007 10:23 PM EDT
views: 99 | rating: 9.9/10 (14 votes) | comments: 38

I love it when I come upon an author who has written several books in a series.  I get to start at the beginning with the first book and eventually read every book in the series.  The characters come to seem like old friends.  Adriana TrigianfileId:3096224744087366;size:inter;i's latest book about Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney is called Home to Big Stone Gap. 

I don't want to spoil this wonderful series for you so I will just say that there are currently four books written about Ave Maria (how's that for a name?) who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  The first book called Big Stone Gap takes place in 1978 and tells about Ave Maria when she is 35 years old and assumes that she will forever be the town spinster.  Each subsequent book  in the series follows Ave Maria's life in a small town in the mountains (Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon and the one I'm reading now, Home to Big Stone Gap).  The novels are chock full of quirky people such as Iva Lou, the sexpot bookmobile lady and Pearl Grimes, the mountain girl who has her eye on being a successful businesswoman.  Ave Maria's best friend, Theodore Tipton, is a small-town bandleader destined for greater success.

The thing I like best about these books is that the people are real.  Ave Maria is like a real person with good qualities and faults.  She can be stubborn just like the rest of us.  She does seem to see the good in people and is fair and loving.  She is a good friend, one of my very best in the literary world.   

I really want to tell you more about Ave Maria's hopes for marriage and a family, her family secret, and the twists and turns of her life but that would spoil the story for you.  If you like reading and want to have four (JUST THINK - FOUR GREAT BOOKS!), go to your local library and start with Big Stone Gap and move on to the rest.  You're in for a great read!

 
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Comments: 38

Nancy S. Apr 14, 2007, 10:34pm EDT
Excellent review! You tell just enough to make me want to read these, but not enough to give anything away. And you know how I love series.... I own EVERY Spenser book, all the the Earth's Children series, every Jenny Cain story and all of the Kinsey Millhones.
My biggest problem now is finding the time to read when I spend so many hours on the computer!
Walker Bennett, SF Author Apr 14, 2007, 10:45pm EDT
I began writing one novel. When it was published, I was so in love with the characters that I had to write another...then another.

I don't write these books, my characters do.
Tonia, who hugs trees G. Apr 14, 2007, 11:22pm EDT
Hmmm, you may have just snagged me. Will definitely have to check these out as there is nothing I love more than quirky characters.
Leah Christensen Apr 14, 2007, 11:31pm EDT
Good for you, Walker!! Don't you just hate having to finish a good book? Keep 'em coming!
Clare Stella Apr 14, 2007, 11:34pm EDT
Nancy, you would love these; I just know it. Walker, I have heard other writers say the same thing. I don't write fiction but sure wish I could. Tonia, these books are great reads. Leah, thank you for reading this. Are you following Walker? LOL.
Monica Kennedy Apr 14, 2007, 11:51pm EDT
Clare - Adriana Trigiani actually came to our B&N in Johnson City TN. I miseed the event and never got to look at her books closely, but now I will. Too bad I missed the chance to meet her!

I love series as well. I have even toyed with the idea of making my novel, I'll Fly Away (editing now) a series because I love the characters so much. It is really funny how that happens. Often we writers do feel we are telling the real story vicariously and we end up loving them as much as our readers do.

Thanks for sharing!
Monica Kennedy Apr 14, 2007, 11:53pm EDT
Ahhhh Clare! I accidentally gave you a 9 on this - I am not sure how but that is what it says! It deserves a 10. So sorry! I can't fix it :-(
Walker Bennett, SF Author Apr 14, 2007, 11:54pm EDT
Yes Leah and Clare. I discovered that there are many things that HAD to be written. When I sit in front of the word processor, my people tell their own story.
Clare Stella Apr 14, 2007, 11:59pm EDT
Oh, Monica, Monica. . . I don't even look at my ratings. Walker, I wish some people inside of me would tell me stories to write. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough.
Clare Stella Apr 15, 2007, 12:01am EDT
Monica, be sure and tell us when your book is published. Thanks for commenting. I like your new icon (well maybe it's not new; I've been feeling yucky and haven't been on Gather as much as I used to but today I got my mojo back).
Leah Christensen Apr 15, 2007, 12:08am EDT
Well said, Walker!
d g. Apr 15, 2007, 8:30am EDT
Not my kind of series, but I do appreciate your enthusiasm!
Gretchen Lee Bourquin Apr 15, 2007, 11:20am EDT
This sounds like it could e pretty good. I read "Lucia Lucia"-- which was pretty good. I had found myself stranded near a grocery store and wanted something not too trite or trashy. She's not a super favorite, but maybe something for Halfprice Books
Patry Francis Apr 15, 2007, 11:48am EDT
My husband grew up in a community like the Big Stone Gap, and is named Theodore. How could I resist the series? (p.s. I love the character Ave Maria.)
Lisa S. Apr 15, 2007, 12:01pm EDT
I read the first two books in this series a few years ago and I had no idea there were two more, thanks for sharing!
Serina Matteson Apr 15, 2007, 1:36pm EDT
Fantastic review, Clare. Thanks for this. I will definitely have to go to the library and check these out. They sound like a very enjoyable read for sure and you have definitley caught my interest.
Clare Stella Apr 15, 2007, 2:52pm EDT
Serina, you would love these too (same thing I said to Nancy). One of the things I forgot to mention in my review is that there are recipes in these books. Whenever there is a family party or wedding in the books the author gives recipes for some of the dishes served - cornbread, special cakes, biscuits and gravy. I loved reading them but would be fat as a horse if I made them. That southern gravy sounds mighty delicious.
Clare Stella Apr 15, 2007, 3:21pm EDT
Lisa, the last two in the series are excellent and it's great fun to see the characters age and make life changes. Thanks for commenting.
Clare Stella Apr 15, 2007, 3:43pm EDT
Patry, I love Ave Maria too for her ability to admit that life is not perfect and that things sometimes go wrong. She is a normal person in many ways: feeling sadness, anger, annoyance with her much loved husband, and still managing to be a good person who is willing to learn. I like her a lot. Thanks for commenting.
PASQUALE. AUGUSTINE Apr 15, 2007, 5:30pm EDT
If you like reading a series type of book of American military and political Intrigue and Deception on an international scale then you will enjoy IMMORTALLY ROMAN. It is an eight book series of a continuous story including all of its characters. The first book was published in 2006. The second book is scheduled for late 2007
Mariana T. Apr 15, 2007, 7:04pm EDT
Dear Miz Clare - this was a wonderful review and I do appreciate you taking the time to tell us about these books. I shall remember them to my growing lists of to be read books! Thank you. Salud.
kip t. Apr 15, 2007, 8:43pm EDT
nice review. Thanks for all info.
Kathryn E. Apr 15, 2007, 11:42pm EDT
Clare, thanks for this review. I will look for these.
Clare Stella Apr 16, 2007, 12:10am EDT
JB, I have a little book with recommendations and will write down the book you mentioned. I appreciate the info. I am glad to hear that you folks are willing to try this series based on my recommendation. It's not full of sex and violence but each book is the kind that makes me feel good about humankind. I like that. Tamara, which book did you like the most?
Vicky P. Apr 16, 2007, 11:47am EDT
Sounds interesting, I love to read so I'll check them out.
Clare Stella Apr 16, 2007, 5:00pm EDT
I think I have read some of Jennifer Wiener's books. I'll have to check when I go to the library. I read approximately 4-5 books per week and sometimes forget which ones I have read. Books stay with me too, Jennifer. Sometimes I have to be careful not to read something too sad or too violent as it can stick in my mind for a while. Don't be sad, little Jenny.
Nancy S. Apr 16, 2007, 7:48pm EDT
Hey, Clare - Did you know this is the first article on the front page???? I never go to the front page any more, and for some reason I did, and there you are!!!! Yahoo!
Nancy S. Apr 16, 2007, 7:51pm EDT
Oh, it's first in the Books section.
Clare Stella Apr 16, 2007, 10:55pm EDT
How do you get to be first in the Books section?
jessie voigts Apr 16, 2007, 11:52pm EDT
clare - i really enjoyed this series, and thank you for reminding me of it, they felt like sisters to me, didn't they to you??
Nancy S. Apr 17, 2007, 4:19pm EDT
I guess they must like you!
Clare Stella Apr 17, 2007, 4:28pm EDT
How come I didn't know? Here I am practically a star and I never knew. Jessie, Ave Maria did feel like a sister, a regular ordinary person.
Tonja H. Apr 24, 2007, 4:56pm EDT
I've written it down and am excited to read something new...love sequels- Thanks for the heads up-
Marissa S. May 2, 2007, 2:30am EDT
I have to say that I absolutely love all of Adriana Trigiani's novels. She has a terrific talent for bringing her characters to life and making us feel as if they are part of our own family or community. I would really enjoy reading more about the Mulligan-McChesney family.
Clare Stella May 3, 2007, 4:12pm EDT
Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate your interest in my reviews.
Erin S. Jan 21, 2008, 6:54pm EST
I read the first book in the series. But honestly, I liked Adriana Trigiani's novel Lucia Lucia better than Big Stone Gap.

Adriana Trigiani and I went to the same college (St. Mary's of Notre Dame, IN). An aspiring author myself, I've exchanged e-mails with her. She's very cool. She's one of the very few people who have bought copies of my self-printed novel Whip

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