Bookworm Review: “Big Cherry Holler” by Adriana Trigiani

Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani
The Random House Publishing Group, 2001

First Line: The rain is coming down on this old stone house so hard, it seems there are a hundred tap dancers on the roof.

From the back cover: Eight years have passed since Ave Maria Mulligan married Jack Mack, moved up into the hills, and dug her roots in even deeper. Bust Ave Maria soon discovers that the mountains cannot shelter her from the painful lessons of the heart. As her life reaches a crossroads, almost everybody in town has advice to offer- including the Bookmobile’s self-appointed sexpert Iva Lou Wade, savvy pharmacy owner Pearl Grimes (“a very mature twenty-four”), crusty chain-smoking cashier Fleeta and of course, the always-wise band director Theodore Tipton, no unofficially “out” and about. But when Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy for the summer, her passion for a seductive stranger will test her marriage- and push her to choose the man who is truly her destiny.

My Thoughts: I absolutely adored book #1 of the Big Stone Gap series, so I couldn’t wait to read book #2. Big Cherry Holler did not disappoint. It takes a wild twist that you don’t see coming which makes it exciting and devastating at the same time. This book introduces the reader to an older Ave Maria who has been married for over a decade and had 2 children, but after losing her youngest, her marriage starts to take a turn for the worst. This is a wonderful story about never giving up and working through pain and loss.

The story also takes us back to Italy (which I am a total sucker for) and gives you a taste of that Italian tradition. Ave Maria takes her daughter Etta to meet the extended family and she falls in love with her Italian heritage, and a certain Italian boy as well.

I love how these books incorporate a lot of comic relief in the middle of a sad or tough moment so that the books never get too depressing. This series is about real life. You’ll find no fairy tale love stories here. This teaches you to work at it. Love is never simple and it is something you must always work for and fight for.

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While I’ve got you here, meet Andi from Just Another Smith!