I finished the last book of the series and now I am very depressed, like on the day after Christmas when all that's left is the clean-up. I don't know if I'd have liked this book as much if I read it first without becoming acquainted with the characters and all their lovely human flaws in the previous stories. I always like books in which the characters are flawed and the message is acceptance. I think we just bumble through this imperfect life trying to do the best we can and then learn to see the remaining flaws, that are scarred into us too deeply for changing, as our personality. Covering them is deceit and life has taught me the fruits of deceit are never worth the efforts of cultivating them, and how odd we would be if we did achieve perfection! We are here to love and be loved; we are not broken machines to be fixed or discarded. We must try to overcome our faults as best we can, but many are just part of us that we can adjust, somewhat, but never really change--none of us will ever make ourselves perfect, and we can't get a personality transplant. I fell in love with Jack Mac when he talked about deciding to accept (before proposing, thank goodness) Ave Maria's faults, sadness, worries, and emotional scar tissue as just part of the packaged deal--you either take it or leave it. I do not want another book since I am about the same age as the characters and know that there isn't much left except to start killing them off, and this book ends at a very satisfying time of life--when you achieve some degree of imperfect comfort within your own skin. I am just going to wait awhile and re-read the whole series start to finish. I think these are books we will understand and love even more as we get older. I have a hard time now, burying so many friends--but I do hope I have learned to make them feel loved, accepted, no, appreciated for their total packaged deal. I guess I found that true love is loving warts and scars. I'd like to leave Ave, Jack, Iva, Theodore, and Pete at that really good place.
I'm an avid fan of the first trilogy, I've only just read 'Home to Big Stone Gap' and was really looking forward to revisit the wonderful characters in the first three books, but I'm gutted to find a very trite and lightweight book in comparison to the first three. I wonder to myself whether Adriana Trigiana was forced into writing this book against her better judgement? I'm big on 'continuity' and it grated on me the ham fisted mistakes that happened. The first was Worley Olinger seemed to be no longer married to Leah Grimes, Pearl's mother, there was no mention that they were ever a couple! Did they separate, where they never married, did I imagine reading about their wedding in the eariest books?! The other was the description given of Arthur their neighbour in Aberdeen by their host, 'Arthur lost his wife last year...', in less than 40 pages Arthur describes to Ave Maria his early marriage during the war, and the loss of his young wife in the war, and how that affected him and how he never felt the need to marry ever again! Did the author or her editors not proof read the book thoroughly before publishing? The chapters of Ave Maria and Jack in Scotland were terrible, simply because they were so 'twee'! I don't think, sorry I know everyone in Scotland doesn't eat shortbread and haggis continuously, that was lack of research I'm afraid. The scene with the relative who was a 'seer'...well, I'm not even going there, awful! I could say much more, but I'll stop there. The first three books are wonderful and inspirational, a MUST read for everyone, I've recommended them to others so many times, but this one...I will quietly return to the library and forget about it. It's like having the most 'scrummy', most gorgeous 3 layer cake you have ever tasted and topping it off with a watery tasteless icing. Such a shame.
What do You think about Home To Big Stone Gap (2006)?
I was very very disappointed with the fourth (and final?) book in Adriana Trigiani's series. Compared to the previous novels, which all really touched me, this one seemed dull and tedious. I found myself not caring about Ave Maria or any of the other characters, which was surprising considering how much I had enjoyed the previous books. The issues are repetitive, and a large part of the book is spend repeating info from the previous novels. This might be good for the reader who hasn't read the first three books, but to me it was just annoying and seemed a waste of time and space. My feelings of Trigiani's authorship are very mixed, some of her books I absolutely love and adore, but the bad ones are really bad. Home to Big Stone Gap definitely isn't her worst, but unfortunately it is still so very very far from her best.
—Rebekka Steg
It was ironic that I finished this on my 15th anniversary, because the major things I gained from the entire series was this overwhelming appreciation for long-term, unconditional marital love. --A love that allows you to appreciate and respect the very core of the person you are married to: their soul, their heritage, their family, their perfections and imperfections. --A love that sees a couple through death, through difficulty, through the most profound changes in self and in each other. --A love that stands the test of time.--And most importantly, a love that brings out the best in two people again and again and again, over time.These books are like precious gems to me...I value and treasure them, possibly more than any books I've read in my adult life so far.
—Krista
It took me much longer than necessary to finish this book, and I only did so because I was becoming delinquent in returning it to the library. That being said, the reason is that I loved this series so much, I could not bear for it to end! As much as I near hated Jack Mac in parts of the previous books, and frequently became frustrated with Ave Maria, I absolutely fell in love with them, their relationship and all of the other wonderful characters in each of the four novels. Big Stone Gap was described so well, it basically became a character itself. Too often series become boring, they let readers down and are too drawn out; this is certainly not the case with Big Stone Gap. In fact, I wish Trigiani would write one more! (although that is merely me being a selfish fan--her ending leaves the reading wanting more, which in my opinion is the mark of a good book and therefore writer). I could go on and on about how much I loved this series and Trigiani's other novels, but I'll leave it at this: A wonderfully rich, entertaining, well-written series. Must read.
—Caroline
