The Queen of the Big Time : A Novel
by Adriana Trigiani
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Book Summary Information
Author: Adriana TrigianiEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-07-06
ISBN: 1400060060
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Random House
Book Reviews of The Queen of the Big Time : A Novel
Book Review: A Warm and Heartfelt Story from a Very Talented Author
Summary: 5 Stars
Some books, particularly romantic fiction, are like potato chips --- tasty little morsels that offer a brief but satisfying crunch. You don't expect them to satisfy your hunger but they'll do for the moment. Others are more like multi-course meals --- epic sagas that take you weeks to read and leave you feeling sated, if slightly overly full --- like a great dinner at an exclusive restaurant; you can't do it all the time, but when it happens, it's a memorable event.
Adriana Trigiani's THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME doesn't fall into either of these categories: it's the home-cooked meal no one makes quite like your Mom --- whether your Mom specialized in pot roast, baked ziti or arroz con pollo. Warm, satisfying and filling, without being overly rich, it's a book meant to be savored.
THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME tells the story of three generations of the Castelluca family, who live near Roseto, Pennsylvania. The novel centers on Nella Castelluca, her parents and her sisters, as they grow up on a farm outside of Roseto. Nella meets and falls in love with the most popular boy in town, Renato Lanzara. Renato's fondness for books and poetry match well with Nella's own love of learning, and it seems like a match made in heaven. Then, inexplicably, Renato leaves Nella and Roseto altogether, breaking poor Nella's heart. Four years later, just as Nella is about to start a new life with another man, Renato returns.
Trigiani's novel reads, in part, like a love letter to the immigrant families that settled in eastern Pennsylvania from Italy in the 1800s and worked hard to maintain their customs and way of life. The book takes its name from the town's biggest annual celebration --- "The Big Time" --- which is the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, occurring every year in late July. The genuine warmth and affection the author feels for her characters --- including the town of Roseto --- clearly is reflected throughout the book, particularly in the care with which Trigiani handles all her characters.
There are a few missteps --- the novel's final sections feel much more rushed than the warm, leisurely pace with which the story opens, and early on in the novel Trigiani contextually includes several authentic recipes (sort of like an Italian-American LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE) that suddenly stopped appearing, leaving me feeling a little cheated. But these elements, while mildly frustrating, are like a few lumps in the gravy: they don't really distract from the overall satisfaction the book brings and, ultimately, add to the "homemade flavor" of the book.
Fans of Trigiani's popular Big Stone Gap trilogy and LUCIA, LUCIA will find much to love in THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME, which similarly draws on the author's family history and background. Newcomers to Adriana Trigiani's work should thoroughly enjoy this novel as a fitting introduction to a talented author with a genuine affection for her roots. And who knows --- the novel may inspire some to visit its setting, the real Roseto, Pennsylvania (about 60 miles outside of Philadelphia) to see The Big Time, the celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, held each year in Roseto during the third week of July.
--- Reviewed by Lourdes Orive
Summary of The Queen of the Big Time : A Novel
Known and loved around the world for her sweeping Big Stone Gap trilogy and the instant New York Times bestseller Lucia, Lucia, Adriana Trigiani returns to the charm and drama of small-town life with Queens of the Big Time. This heartfelt story of the limits and power of love chronicles the remarkable lives of the Castellucas, an Italian-American family, over the course of three generations.In the late 1800s, the residents of a small village in the Bari region of Italy, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, made a mass migration to the promised land of America. They settled in Roseto, Pennsylvania, and re-created their former lives in their new home?down to the very last detail of who lived next door to whom. The village?s annual celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel?or ?the Big Time,? as the occasion is called by the young women who compete to be the pageant?s Queen?is the centerpiece of Roseto?s colorful old-world tradition.
The industrious Castellucas farm the land outside Roseto. Nella, the middle daughter of five, aspires to a genteel life ?in town,? far from the rigors of farm life, which have taken a toll on her mother and forced her father to take extra work in the slate quarries to make ends meet. But Nella?s dreams of making her own fortune shift when she meets Renato Lanzara, the son of a prominent Roseto family. Renato is a worldly, handsome, devil-may-care poet who has a way with words that makes him irresistible. Their friendship ignites into a fiery romance that Nella is certain will lead to marriage. But Nella is not alone in her pursuit: every girl in town seems to want Renato. When he disappears without explanation, Nella is left with a shattered heart. Four years later, Renato?s sudden return to Roseto the night before Nella?s wedding to the steadfast Franco Zollerano leaves her and the Castelluca family shaken. For although Renato has chosen a path very different from Nella?s, they are fated to live and work in Roseto, where the past hangs over them like a brewing storm.
An epic of small-town life, etched in glorious detail in the trademark Trigiani style, The Queen of the Big Time is the story of a determined, passionate woman who can never forget her first love.
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