Big Cherry Holler

One of the most obnoxious books I’ve ever read. Super disappointing since I’d considered the first book in this trilogy something of a cozy comfort at a time when I’d needed that, unfortunately, I mostly found this second book sickening.

There were minor annoyances here, like the absurdity that someone could conduct an emotional affair in front of a kid old enough to have her own crushes yet that kid remained oblivious to what her parent was up to, there was also the unlikelihood of affording/spending savings on a trip to Italy when your spouse has lost their job and is starting up a new business, and most unbelievable of all, a dinner near the end with a certain guest felt like some bizarro idea of humans rather than anything show more recognizably close to how people behave or react.

Then there’s the major annoyance, that this novel is populated with characters who believe that if a guy cheats, it’s the woman’s fault, she’s the one who needs to apologize and promise to do better, while he owes her nothing and gets a free pass.

Over and over this book and its characters tell women to leave your family’s financial security to your guy, never ever make decisions without him but let him make any decision he wants, make sure your man knows he’s wanted, make sure he feels “chosen” and catered to in every way, tiptoe around his fragile ego and flatter it every chance you get or you’re asking to be cheated on, you deserve it. Oh and be sure to get over your dead child on your man’s timetable because hubby can’t tolerate waiting for you to put your broken pieces back together nor will he make even the slightest effort to help you do so, he’s allowed to go silent and distant on you but it’s inexcusable for you to do the same.

If this novel were set in an era when women were boxed in by societal rules and/or a lack of rights, or if it were in a place like Gilead then I could understand every single character abiding by this misogynistic ethos, I’d be like okay, that’s true to the time period or the situation, or whatever, I’d understand why sexism is the accepted and pervasive theme throughout the book but this story takes place in the 1980’s and mostly in the U.S.A..

Yes, it’s a small town, yes, it’s the south, so maybe there would be a high percentage of conservative thinking, maybe there would be some characters who genuinely believe a woman should be a second class citizen in her relationship, but again, this is supposed to be the 1980’s not the 1800’s, so shouldn’t there at least have been some other characters with dissenting opinions? Surely even a small southern town, would, in the 80’s, have had at least one or two independent-minded women and enlightened men who don’t prescribe to the theory that women should be subservient. I persisted through this book, with the hope that maybe Ave would evolve into that character, the one who’d stand her ground against this novel’s voices from the dark ages, and she’d be like, hey, you know what, my husband is just as responsible for the problems in our marriage as I am, he needs to own up to his share of the blame, too, or there is no going forward for us, but what I got from Ave instead was one of the most disheartening displays of female disempowerment that I’ve ever read from a female author.

Clearly I’m not reading the third book. show less

An interesting plot that juxtaposes scenes in rural Virginia with those in Italy - an unlikely pairing that appears, however, to mimic the author's background. Through Ave Maria's introspection and interaction with a colorful cast of characters we follow her anguish. She calls herself a spinster because she didn't marry until she was 37. Jack Mac is from her rural hometown but very different from her. While they have a relatively comfortable life, they have some losses about which they haven't communicated. The book is about their struggle and is a somewhat predictable tear-jerker.

I enjoy Trigiani's books because she is a storyteller. She takes the everyday and weaves it into a tale. Her characters are real, every last one of them could be your next-door neighbor or behind you in the checkout line at the grocery store. Oh sure, their accent might be different or the color of their skin or sophistication with worldly matters might not be the same, but the basic charater is real enought to be sitting beside you at the movie theater. Ave Maria is not a perfect woman, nor does she live a life of glamor or adventure, but she is true to life. And her journey, in this second book of the Big Stone Gap series, is not about her trip to Italy, as it is about her trip into her own heart to find what is her true self.

Every once in a great while, a book comes along that you absolutely adore. You devour every word and are terribly misty-eyed when it ends. Then, miracle of miracles, the author decides to pen a sequel to that brilliant book and you're again enraptured.

Big Cherry Holler is the follow-up to Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani's best-selling debut novel. In the sequel, Trigiani takes her readers back to the small town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where we catch up on the lives of those quirky and fascinating townfolk who so intrigued us before.

In the eight years since town pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan married her true love, coal miner Jack MacChesney, the couple has had a daughter, Etta, and a son, Joe, who died at the tender age of four. show more They have settled into the comfortable routine of family life. But even with her joy at being a mother and wife, Ave Maria begins to feel something is missing in her life. She and Jack Mac are just not as happy as she thinks they should be, and bit by bit she feels him slipping away. As things begin to fall apart, Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy to spend the summer with relatives. While there, she meets a handsome stranger who offers her an eye-opening look at life beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stunned at her reawakened feelings of passion, Ave Maria is forced to define what is truly important to her -- her marriage, her family and her home.

This time around, Trigiani tells the heart-wrenching story of a marriage with all its deep dark secrets, struggles for equality and whispers of unfulfilled expectations that often exist between husband and wife. She also tells the story of a community that must reinvent itself as it comes to grips with the closing of the coal mine that has always provided employment for the town.

Big Cherry Holler is an intricate tale of two people who have temporarily forgotten the reasons they came to love each other in the first place, and their journey to find that spark again. Readers will find a little bit of everything in this heart-warming novel -- humor, romance, wisdom and drama are all represented in the beautiful mountain settings of Virginia and Italy. Trigiani has created another keeper.

~Submitted by Sharon Chance~ show less

Ave Maria has been married for eight years now. She and her husband have a beautiful daughter, but they've also had some very difficult times. Now Ave feels that they're growing apart. Everyday life has gotten in the way of love, and it's time for both of them to make some decisions about what they want out of life.

I like Ave a lot, I really do. So this melancholy book was hard for me to read. She is so unhappy. She has ample reason to be; she really has been through some things that no one should have to go through. But I wanted some moments of grace for her. She has some mostly carefree moments, but those felt wrong and my stomach was in knots, afraid she would make the wrong decision.

The quirky characters that I loved in Big Stone show more Gap do, of course, make an appearance in this book. But they aren't being all that quirky. They're mostly sticking their noses into Ave's business and giving her advice that just seems to confuse her.

Ave ends up in Italy for a while, and I did love the descriptions of the countryside there. I want to see that field of bluebells.

Ave is in a very different place emotionally than she was in Big Stone Gap. I still liked checking in on her, but other readers should be ready for this more introspective, somber book. show less

Read this book for my book club. When I finished the book I was glad to be done. At the time all I felt was that it was tedious. Maybe it was just that I had other books I really wanted to get into and was growing impatient. After our discussion I realized I did enjoy several of the characters. Trigiani does have a fun writing style but I still feel she could have tried to not go on so many different times about how she was feeling about her marriage. It was bordering on whining to me. We got it the first few times. This is a very real look at marriage and how we need to work at it. She had some very insightful things to share so it was not a waste of my time. My book club liked it a lot.

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS!

This is the 31st book I have read this year, and is the second in the Big Stone Gap series. I read the first one in the series last year, and enjoyed it very much. This was was a worthy sequel, and I really really liked it.

This book picks up 8 years after Big Stone Gap ended. Ave Maria and Jack Mac have been married for 8 years, and their daughter Etta (a delightful character) is growing up fast! However, it's clear that the years between this book and the last one have brought tragedy and grief to Ave and Jack, which has had an effect on their marriage.

Ave finds herself growing nervous when a predatorial woman comes to town, with her sights set firmly on Jack, and it isn't long before rumours are show more flying around the small town of Big Stone Gap, where everyone knows everyone else's business.

Etta struggles to decide what she wants out of life and marraige, and ends up going to Italy for the summer to see her Italian family. However, events in Italy take an unforeseen turn...

As before, the book is populated with eccentric and lovable characters. However, I think less time is focussed on the supporting characters than in the first book of the series. This book does not suffer for that - Ave is a flawed but very likable character, and it is difficult not to root for her.

A lovely read - ideal for curling up with on a cosy Sunday afternoon! show less