The Queen of the Big Time: a Novel
2 journalers for this copy...
Bought at Unicorn Thrift Store's 50% off sale for release.
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From Publishers Weekly
Set in early 20th-century smalltown America, Trigiani's fifth novel (after the Big Stone Gap trilogy and Lucia, Lucia) tells a heartfelt but clumsy story of strong women enduring the rigors of farm life and the trials of romantic and familial relations. At its worst, the novel is a morass of incomplete story lines, underdeveloped characters and inconsistent tenses. Still, readers who've fallen for Trigiani's hallmark personages—Italian immigrants living the American dream in rural Pennsylvania—in previous books will delight in meeting these new ones. Nella Castelluca has brains and ambition; she hopes to someday become a teacher. Alas, when her father is injured at work, she must quit school and stay home to help on the family farm. Her first dream slips away, but working farm life turns out to be not so bad, and Nella eventually falls for the dreamy poet Renato Lanzara. But when he skips town, dream two is crushed, and Nella faces a tough reality: marry another man, and move on. Easier said than done, of course, and Trigiani spends the rest of the book drawing out the saga. Although the writing never rises above B-level, the novel does paint a thorough picture of Italian-American family life and the deep pain of lost love.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From Publishers Weekly
Set in early 20th-century smalltown America, Trigiani's fifth novel (after the Big Stone Gap trilogy and Lucia, Lucia) tells a heartfelt but clumsy story of strong women enduring the rigors of farm life and the trials of romantic and familial relations. At its worst, the novel is a morass of incomplete story lines, underdeveloped characters and inconsistent tenses. Still, readers who've fallen for Trigiani's hallmark personages—Italian immigrants living the American dream in rural Pennsylvania—in previous books will delight in meeting these new ones. Nella Castelluca has brains and ambition; she hopes to someday become a teacher. Alas, when her father is injured at work, she must quit school and stay home to help on the family farm. Her first dream slips away, but working farm life turns out to be not so bad, and Nella eventually falls for the dreamy poet Renato Lanzara. But when he skips town, dream two is crushed, and Nella faces a tough reality: marry another man, and move on. Easier said than done, of course, and Trigiani spends the rest of the book drawing out the saga. Although the writing never rises above B-level, the novel does paint a thorough picture of Italian-American family life and the deep pain of lost love.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Journal Entry 2 by k00kaburra at RABCK, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, December 24, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (12/24/2009 UTC) at RABCK, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
sent to Anne Barnes of Anderson, SC to fulfill a request on Bookmooch.com!
sent to Anne Barnes of Anderson, SC to fulfill a request on Bookmooch.com!
I received this book through Bookmooch.
I was a little disappointed in this one. It was not as good as the Big Stone Gap series. It left a lot of story lines hanging and went too deeply into others that weren't too interesting.
I will be sending it on to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law as they enjoy these types of stories. I think my mother-in-law will especially enjoy it as she was raised on a farm in this time period and was lucky enough to get to move to the city and live with her aunts after she graduated from high school.
CAUGHT IN FERNANDINA BEACH FL USA
I was a little disappointed in this one. It was not as good as the Big Stone Gap series. It left a lot of story lines hanging and went too deeply into others that weren't too interesting.
I will be sending it on to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law as they enjoy these types of stories. I think my mother-in-law will especially enjoy it as she was raised on a farm in this time period and was lucky enough to get to move to the city and live with her aunts after she graduated from high school.
CAUGHT IN FERNANDINA BEACH FL USA
