Hi there, guys and dolls! And tah-dah, here’s Thursday and time for my raves n faves, getting you into the weekend spirit. This week’s pick to make your weekend magical is the wonderful author Adriana Trigiani and her delightful stories. You know how they say to write what you know? Well, that’s what she did, reflecting on her own life and where she grew up, adding wonderful layers of fabulous characters and terrific happenings that make books impossible to put down.

The series is rich in charming characters and comforts of small town life. The tales are about being human and transport you into a classic and timeless world where the important things matter – life, love and what happens when you let go of the little vulnerabilities that hold us back and discover real and deeply resonating soul happiness. She unravels the mysteries of the human heart with such richness, empathy and humor that you can’t fail to see yourself or so many people you know in her stories (I swear my Aunt Mabel’s in the background of one of those books!). Below is the details about the Big Stone Gap series, one of the best set of books I’ve had the pleasure to read. Just click on the covers or titles to order your very own Amazon copies.

The Big Stone Gap Series

BIG STONE GAP – Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the tiny town of Big Stone Gap is home to some of the most charming eccentrics in the state. Ave Maria Mulligan is the town’s self-proclaimed spinster, a thirty-five year old pharmacist with a “mountain girl’s body and a flat behind.” She lives an amiable life with good friends and lots of hobbies until the fateful day in 1978 when she suddenly discovers that she’s not who she always thought she was. Before she can blink, Ave’s fielding marriage proposals, fighting off greedy family members, organizing a celebration for visiting celebrities, and planning the trip of a lifetime–a trip that could change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Brimming with humor and wise notions of small-town life, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book with a giant heart. . . .

BIG CHERRY HOLLER – The extraordinary sequel to BIG STONE GAP, takes us back to the mountain life that enchanted us in Adriana Trigiani’s best selling debut novel. It’s been eight years since the town pharmacist and long time spinster Ave Maria Mulligan married coal miner Jack MacChesney. With her new found belief in love and its possibilities, Ave Maria makes a life for herself and her growing family, hoping that her fearless leap into commitment will make happiness stay. What she didn’t count on was that fate, life, and the ghosts of the past would come to haunt her and, eventually, test the love she has for her husband. The mountain walls that have protected her all of her life can not spare Ave Maria the life lessons she must learn.

MILK GLASS MOON – The third book in Adriana Trigiani’s bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that will surprise and enthrall the reader.
Transporting us from Ave Maria’s home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Italian Alps, from New York City to the Tuscan countryside, Milk Glass Moon” is the story of a shifting mother-daughter relationship, of a daughter’s first love and a mother’s heartbreak, of an enduring marriage that contains its own ongoing challenges, and of a community faced with seismic change.

HOME TO BIG STONE GAP – Nestled in the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the town of Big Stone Gap has been home for Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney and her beloved family and friends for generations. But with her daughter, Etta, having flown the nest to enchanting Italy, Ave Maria has reached a turning point, and she realizes that it’s time to go in search of brand-new dreams. Yet 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. An opportunistic coal company 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.

Ms. Trigiani is such an accomplished writer with so many more books I’ll mention in a future raves n faves. She also has big and small screen adaptation credits to her name, as well as memoirs and cookbooks. I could go on and on about how much I love this woman, so do yourself a favor and check out her website here. It’s a fantabulous treat all on its own.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts. And don’t forget to give my Poppy Cove Mysteries a try if you haven’t already.

Toodles, Barbara Jean