
My Review: In the backwoods town of Big Stone Gap, where everything is everyone’s business, thirty-five year old pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan is the Unthinkable. Single. When her mother dies and Ave discovers a scandalous family secret, she is sent reeling into a world of emotion that she isn’t quite ready to handle. Throw in a few unexpected marriage proposals and you have the makings of a terrific mental breakdown. When Ave comes back to her senses, she knows it’s time to take control of her life and do the one thing she has wanted and feared the most; it’s time to leave Big Stone Gap.
I wish I could give you an in
depth review of this book, but I decided to read this one without making very
many notes and as a result I can only give you my vague impressions. Note to self.
Take more notes.
Big Stone Gap is an exceptionally character driven novel. Ave Maria’s circle of friends, family, and
acquaintances about town feel both authentic and entirely off the wall. I loved all the supporting characters and the
little details the author used made them shine, but occasionally I wanted to
smack Ave around a bit. She was
frustratingly dense when it came to understanding the emotions, needs, and
motivations of herself and others. It’s
almost like she was a guy. I say it with love, people. I say it with love.
In all of this, there was a delightful
romance simmering between Ave and I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU SO HAH! I think it's cute that you thought I was going to tell you. I will say that I was perfectly happy with
the book’s ending.
Despite the fascinating
characters and small town charisma, once I finished Big Stone Gap I didn’t feel the overwhelming need to keep it for my
personal collection or hand it out to all of my friends. It was a good,
one-time read. I enjoyed it, but after I
finish this review I’ll move on to another book and likely never give Big Stone
Gap or its inhabitants a second thought.
Here I go. This is me. Moving on.
My Rating: 3.75 Stars
For the sensitive
reader: Some sexual references and/or
dialogue and a few instances of profanity (only one F-bomb…I think).
Sum it up: Good
while it lasted. An interesting characterization
of small town dynamics.
1 comment:
This sounds like the book for me right now. No commitment necessary. The book has been requested and is waiting for me at the library.
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