Milk Glass Moon (Big Stone Gap)

I was disappointed by this book, the first (and last) one I have read by this author. As another reviewer said, there is little to no character development. The protagonist comes off as a shallow whiner who thinks her moronic pithy sayings pass for philosophy. I only finished the book because I paid too much for it On Kindle. I have a hard time knowing how books are priced on the store: too often I don't feel I get what I paid for. And then again, I have totally enjoyed older classics and books priced at less than a dollar!
Anyway, it's unbelievable that this book got so many 4 and 5 star reviews? Spend your money elsewhere!

Trigiani has a gift for story telling. This book is the third in her series about Ave Marie. It is well worth your while to read this series in order in order to benefit from the development of relationships and the assorted people that Ave hob-nobs with.

Ave Maria's life is progressing much as all our lives. Her relationship with Jack grows closer, her daughter goes through her teen years with typical angst and distress for the family, and there is a transition from the "holler" to Italy. This latter should come as no surprise as we have followed Ave Maria through her love for Italy and her father and the food etc. This book has reality based ups and downs and is a really good read.

Another wonderful story by Adriana Trigiani. I love that she narrates her own stories! You get a true feel for her vision of what story she spun in her head through her narration. It's sad to see Ava's life changing so drastically over the years from book to book. I'll admit I shed a tear or two through "Milk Glass Moon." I love the southern sass and humor Ms. Trigiani weaves into each story. Her characters, although quite southern, are very relateable and lovable and likable.

Mother versus daughter. Ave wanted Etta to have the best in life, but she did not know how to communicate that to Etta. Etta just wanted Ave to accept her for who she is. Etta is a country girl from Big Stone Gap. Ave couldn't see that Etta was a lot like her also. Etta was just as opinionated as Ave and stubborn.

Ave and Jack talk about the events that occurred during the summer she and Etta went to Italy. Ave finally accepts her responsibility for allowing Karen to get close to Jack and her relationship with Pete.

A lot of surprises in this story. Fleeta and Iva Lou are my favorite characters.

I have just concluded, "Milk Glass Moon," the third book of the "Big Stone Gap" trilogy that Ms. Trigiani so brilliantly wrote. My daughter introduced me this past year to the amazing writings of this author and I am SO GLAD! I'm now devouring all of her books! Specifically with the Big Stone Gap series, I find myself hooked into the lives of the characters, the places in the Blue Ridge Mountains where the stories take place as well as the beautifully described areas of Italy that in themselves have become this series' characters.

I easily find myself relating with the thoughts, feelings, doubts and decisions of main character Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney. From the first book of this series until concluding with "Milk Glass Moon," I completely related to all that she went through - the author spared nothing, sharing honestly by her writing everything realistically that a woman faces and must deal with during the various stages of her life. Ave Maria had to honestly deal with undisclosed surprises that came out of her childhood, eventually giving her a better understanding of who she really was (not without some struggle, of course!), how that would lead to her travels through marriage and motherhood, and even showing the reader that nothing can ever go smoothly, no matter how well we think we're navigating our lives. Supporting characters: husband Jack Mac, close friend Spec, best friend Iva Lou, male best friend Theodore, and an ever returning character (just as you least expect him!), Pete Rutledge, that always could manage to tug at Ave Maria's heartstrings, tempting to rock the boat of her wedding vows, ompletely throwing her off kilter. Each character is so well written, so well-defined, that I could feel their influence upon Ave Maria and imagine them in my reader's mind, welcoming them back in each book. All the doubts we feel during the various stages of life, all the turbulent and the emotionally wonderful feelings too, are explored so completely throughout the writing of Ms. Trigiani - AND tossed about with a great sense of humor added for spice! - that I truly wish I actually knew all these characters in real life and could go visit them for REAL!

I so much wish that Ms. Trigiani would continue writing book installments featuring the continuing life of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as well as all the other characters in this amazing Big Stone Gap series - I'd love to see their lives further explored into old age and the adulthood of their children and so on - there's still so much I'd like to see happen!

Kudos to Ms. Trigiani on the superb writing of "Milk Glass Moon" as well as the previous two Big Stone Gap books. I'm so glad to have read them and would recommend them to anyone wishing to immerse themselves in writing that mirrors life just as it is and just as it's faced and dealt with. Thank you, Ms. Trigiani, for your amazing writing and storytelling. You're the best!

Etta is growing up! This third installment of the Big Stone Gap series made me sad, yet happy at the same time. Ave and Jack Mack have come a long way in their marriage, and have settled into a life at the center of Big Stone Gap. Jack Mack has aspirations beyond Big Stone Gap, but Ave seems very comfortable in her current life. In this book, Etta goes through the teen years to graduate from college. These are tough years for Ave as she copes with a daughter who is nothing like her, but has all of the spirit and stubbornness of the MacChesney's. Even after all of these years, Ave's Italian heritage still sets her apart from the mountain people of Stone Gap, and she's not a "native" like her daughter and husband. During Etta's high school years, the family travels back to Italy, where Jack Mack hones his passion for cooking and Etta deepens her relationships with her Italian relatives. When Etta heads back to Italy after high school graduation by herself, she calls home with shocking news that changes Ave and Jack's lives forever. I can't wait to read "Home to Big Stone Gap" so I can learn more about the next chapter in their lives.

A week before reading this book, Adriana Trigiani "visited" one of my book club's meetings via a phone conference. It was an outstanding experience speaking with her about Big Stone Gap. By the time I read Milk Glass Moon, I was sold on her writing.
This book completes the Big Stone Gap trilogy in a warmly satisfying way. According to Adriana, the first book was about asking and answering "Who am I?"; Big Cherry Holler is about asking, "Now that I have some answers, why do I keep making the same mistakes over again?"; and Milk Glass Moon is about the idea of letting go and redefining our lives. The book covers Etta's years from age 12 to 18, a span any parent would find challenging. Naturally, one of the big concerns is Etta and Ave Maria's relationship. Because this is a situation all mothers can identify with, it is easy to see oneself in the book. Etta, like all daughters, grows up whether or not Ave Maria feels she's done enough to guide her, or whether or not Ave agrees with her decisions. As father, Jack Mac is much more objective in accepting that Etta is growing up. Etta, after all, is not Ave, and yet ironically, what she chooses for herself shows that she's quite self-aware. What Ave sees as a contradiction, Etta is able to explain perfectly soundly, if not logically. No character is static in this novel; each has an opportunity to "let go" or to "redefine" his/her life. Iva Lou lets go of what she's always believed is her fundamental self-image when she's stricken ill. Ave faces the sudden letting go of her friend and co-worker Spec Broadwater. Pearl, too, a far different character from the insecure high school girl she was in B.S.G., redefines her life. Even the cantankerous Fleeta Mullins' rough edges soften a bit. Most importantly, Jack and Ave Maria's relationship is cemented in this book, as Ave becomes truly secure in her happiness with him, and he proves to be a risk taker willing to redefine the direction their lives will take now that they are in (yes!) their 50's. It's been heartwarming reading the trilogy. Adriana proves that the big passages in life are universal, happening in the small towns of America such as Big Stone Gap, as well as in those nestled in the Italian Alps. I look forward to more from Adriana Trigiani!

As in her previous Big Stone Gap novels, Adriana Trigiani's newest title offers more than just an update on the lives of Ave Maria, Jack Mac and their daughter Etta. It's a chance for us to dip into the lifestyle of small-town America (and Italy) and the sensual landscapes of the southwestern Virginia mountains as well as the Italian Alps. It's encounters with unique and sometimes eccentric individuals who, in spite of their quirks or problems, endear themselves to us when they show they care about the people around them. It's a study of changing relationships between parents and children, between best friends, even between good friends of opposite genders. It's also a search for a personal sense of place: finding the exact spot on Earth where you are supposed to live, what you're supposed to do, and who you're supposed to be doing it with. And the ending leaves the door open for further adventures.

_Milk Glass Moon_ is such an engaging and easy read that, if you've got the time, you can easily finish this book in just one sitting. But that's almost cheating yourself of being able to spend valuable time with these intriguing characters. Perhaps we should savor every moment.

If Ms. Trigiani is scheduled to appear at a book signing near you, don't hesitate to go to see her. She's a fascinating speaker, and you'll find out how much of herself she puts into her books.

Actually 3.5***

While I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler, I found this one to be just okay, a little better than average.

The main character of this book is Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney. In the first two books I really loved her character and her choices in life. This time I wanted to shake her more than once. Instead of the strong character from the first two books she seemed whiney and even shrewish at times, especially within her relationship to her teenaged daughter. I also felt he book seemed rushed, going through years with the turn of a page.

That said I still enjoy the eccentric characters, and the beautiful descriptions, especially of Italy. And I love Jack Mac, Ave's true blue husband; even though I think his appearances here were mostly to calm down Ave after one of her outbursts.

Not as good as the first two, but still gets extra points for bringing me on another trip to Big Stone Gap, which probably won't happen again, as it appears as if there is another book in the series it will be centered elsewhere.

Adriana Trigiani is truly a wonderful and masterful storyteller and I certainly hope this isn't the last visit we have to Big Stone Gap. I have fallen in love with all characters from hip sexpert Iva Lou, to crusty but loveable Fleeta not to mention late-bloomer, Ave Maria and the love of her life, Jack Mac. When I startred this book, I felt like I was taking a walk through Cracker's Neck Holler getting reaquainted with everyone, I felt welcomed back into the fold, that I missed everyone and I was anxious to see what they had been up to.
This book tells the story of the struggle between Ave Maria and her her now teenage daughter, Etta. Ave struggles of course with what every mother struggles with and that is letting go. Etta can be rebellious at times and is struggling to find her own way in the world and it is Etta's father, Jack Mac that seems to understand this better than Ave, who, throughout the course of this heartwarming, spirited novel is forced to learn a lesson or two from her daughter and all the people in this close-knit community that love her.
This novel, as well as the other two books in this series has something for everyone: The characters are extremely well-drawn and lively, the romance is timeless, one sentence can make you laugh wholeheartedly while the next breaks your heart. And for those who like adventure, Milk Glass Moon transports us from the mountains of Virginia to the Tuscan countryside and the Italian Alps for a visit once again with Ave's family.
I am very sad to see this book and the series end, but I look forward to anything else written by Ms. Trigiani. For those who have not yet discovered this talented author, pick up Big Stone Gap, Big Cherry Holler, and Milk Glass Moon and READ THEM!!! they are better than a five star rating can say and should not be missed!

Reading the last book in the Big Stone Gap trilogy felt like coming home. I loved everything about it - all my favorite characters and that nice comfy feeling you get when turning pages was there. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the story.
This time around the novel focus mainly on Ave Maria trying to raise her daughter, Etta. The story spans about six years and so we get a nice glimpse into what Ave Maria goes through when trying to rear Etta through her teenage years. And of course, Big Stone Gap wouldn't be complete without cantankerous Fleeta Mullins, Ave's help at the Mutual Pharmacy; all of Ave's wonderful family from across the pond; as well as one of my favorites, Iva Lou Wade Makin, who has a struggle all her own.
Chock full of homespun humor and as comforting as a warm glass of milk, Milk Glass Moon was everything I expected it to be. I feel sad to say good-bye to all my wonderful friends at Big Stone Gap, but the ending of the book left me with such a nice feeling. I highly recommend this trilogy to readers. Thank you, Adriana, for this awesome gift.

Ave Maria and the gang are back for another story of life in Big Stone Gap. This time things have changed and people have grown up.
Ave Maria and Jack have been married for many years and there daughter Etta is growing up faster then Ave Maria wants to accept. With things changing in there family and things changing around Big Stone Ave Maria and her friends have to deal with alot.
Ave Maria's best friend Theodore is moving to New York and Ave is going to go visit him, while there she runs into an old friends that makes her wondering if things in her life are how she wants them. Iva Lou is back and she is having to look at things in different light when she gets some bad news.
This last book in this series was wonderful, I loved how Ave Maria, Etta, Fleeta, Pearl, Jack and the entire gang grew up and how things changed in Big Stone Gap and many other places. I wish that there would be more books about this family because I really love reading about the good people in Big Stone Gap.

This series of books is nothing less than brilliant, a tour de force that crosses decades, continents, and genres, often to powerfully emotional places and also quite often to hilarious effect. Trigiani has written a masterful series of novels covering what we all experience in our own lives: love, loss, and everything in between. As I read the book, I could smell the mountain air, feel the twisting mountain roads and smell the books on the bookmobile. If you want a sometimes funny, always touching, romantic novel that makes you yearn for simpler times, this is the one to read. Milk Glass Moon and the rest of this series are real, refreshing, and a wonderful read to get lost in-especially for summer.

Adriana Trigiani has tackled the basic themes of love, friendship, and marriage in the first 2 books of her Big Stone Gap series. In the third book, she brings back all of our favorite characters and shows us that they are always growing, changing, and evolving. The fact that Ave Maria's daughter Etta is growing into a young woman does not please her very much. She would like to "freeze" Etta into a little-girl mode, but Etta is too much her own person to allow this to happen. Jack seems able to except the changing person who is his daughter, but Etta has a hard time with it. She has envisioned a perfect life for her daugher which includes college, and eventual marriage and family. When Etta decides otherwise, Ave Maria has to accept the fact that her daugher is growing up. This book is the perfect ending to the trilogy, though it's hard to give up the delightful characters that populate these pages. The stories give us gentle laughs, but most of all they touch our hearts.

Readers of Adriana Trigiani's first two books in this trilogy, Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler, certainly have a great deal to look forward to when they pick up and read Milk Glass Moon. What reader wouldn't enjoy another visit to this mountain town in West Virginia, which the author describes so beautifully and fills with such vivid characters and events. And if by chance you read this book without realizing it's the third installment in a series, you have the added pleasure of being able to go back and savor the first two books putting all of the pieces in the puzzle together.
At the beginning of Milk Glass Moon, which refers to what Jack's grandfather described as a smoky, hazy moon, life is pretty much the same for Ave Marie and Jack MacChesney. Their marriage is a good and fulfilling one after several years and they look forward to the future together. Ave Marie continues to work in the pharmacy she once owned while Jack is busy with his construction company. Rounding out their lives is their daughter, Etta, a bright and adventurous 13 year old who is bound to turn Ave Marie's hair gray. But life really never stays the same and once again Ave Marie is faced with new challenges in her life as well as the changes in her friends lives. Once again, we get to spend time with Ave and her beloved mountain friends from the first two books. Theodore Tipton, the former marching band leader who suddenly moves to New York City, Peter Rutledge who Ave Marie first met in Italy five years ago, Iva Lou, the brash and sexy book -mobile driver, Fleeta, the grouchy but big hearted employee of the pharmacy, Spec the paramedic Ave Marie used to work with and Ave Marie's large family in Italy. But ultimately it is the relationship between Ave Marie and Etta which Trigiani explores as Etta marches into adolescence and love.
This is an old fashioned book with old fashion ideals about family, friends, unconditional love and loyalty. As Ms. Trigiani wrote so eloquently about love and marriage in Big Cherry Holler, this time the author writes beautifully about the pains of motherhood and children growing up. The saying that "we give our children roots and wings" is never demonstrated better than it is within the pages of this book. This is a wonderful book and evidence of why the first two books have captured so many reader's hearts and imaginations. Although the author hasn't said definitively that this is the end of the series, I for one am hoping that she will continue to amuse us with the antics of the people both of Big Stone Gap and Italy. If not I'll be rereading this trilogy for some time to come.

I discovered this author while roaming my public library. After reading The Shoemaker's Wife, I returned and got all her books and chain read them. Every one of her books was great. I read all four of the Big Stone Gap series. The author immerses you in the stories and you can't put the books down until you're finished reading.

Although they aren't great fiction, the Big Stone Gap stories are entertaining and easy to read. I must admit, however, that I do find the technique of writing in the present tense to be somewhat annoying.

There is one error in "Milk Glass Moon" which I feel compelled to correct: The pasta dish the group was served when they first arrived in Florence was most definitely NOT pasta puttanesca, which is a tomato-based sauce supposedly created by Neopolitan prostitutes (hence the name). What they appear to have been eating was pasta carbonara (eggs, pancetta, parmesan cheese). And by the way, whatever happened to Jack's passion for cooking and opening an Italian restaurant?

Adriana Trigiani hits another home run with this 3rd installment in the Big Stone Gap novels. Actually the first and third were better than the middle novel, Big Cherry Holler. In Milk Glass Moon, Ave Maria and Jack go from parents of a pre pubescent to parents of a full grown woman and discover their love for each other is still going strong. Ave and Jack weather teen angst, breast cancer in their inner circle, the return of some old flames, and the question of "what to do with the second half of our lives." Somehow by the end of the novel, the reader knows that no matter what Ave and Jack decide to do with the next 50 years, they will still be together and still be happy. Milk Glass Moon lets us revisit some of our favorite characters from the series and ends just at the right moment. No hanging on too long to become insipid and boring. Trigiani spins a great tale that fans of the series will want to read again and again.

I took this book (audio version) on a drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, as the subject matter seemed appropriate. What a disapointment! I have read the first two books, and thought they were OK but you can see the material (mostly fresh in the first book) getting staler and more tired with each outing.
Same old characters...Ms. Trigiani kills off one character per book, I guess. She doesn't introduce any new or challenging characters. Everyone -- Iva Lou, Spec, Pearl, Jack Mac -- make an appearance with absolutely nothing new to say. Many old scenes are revisited to no point (Ave Maria and Pete headed back to the blue bell field).
I think this is just a money machine now for the author. Anything charming or authentic to the locale has been sucked dry. The characters seem old and tired, without nothing new about them to explore.
One thing nobody talks about with this series, which I think is a real cheat, is how in each book Ave Maria and family get to take, not one, but several incredibly long, expensive Italian vacations.
In the real world, in the REAL Big Stone Gap, about how often do you think this happens? Most of the people in this region live modestly. Even a pharmacist wouldn't be rich by any means (and Ave gave up ownership of her store and house -- improbably in my view -- in the first book). Even with relatives, just the plane fare for all these trips would be a fortune and that's not taking into consideration that they aren't normal two week vacations but whole summers.
Honestly, the only people who can do this -- time AND moneywise -- are...rich authors and screenwriters, like say...Adriana Trigiani.
It certainly tells us NOTHING about real life in Southwestern Virginia, to hear that these lucky individuals get to take mindbending shopping trips in the Italian Alps every few pages.
In the first book, it was maybe excusable as Ave had just reconnected with her Italian family. But to incorporate into every book seems forced, improbable and more like Ms. Trigiani is bragging about her own luxurious lifestyle than telling us anything remotely believeable about life in a unique and distinctive part of the US.
Yes, I get it...it's a fantasy. But the charm of the first book was that it was a sweet fantasy that incorporated a very real and distinctive view of the Big Stone Gap region. If the characters flounce off to New York and the Italian Alps all the time, you might as well be reading Jackie Collins.
Adrianna Trigianni, it's time to move on. You have some writing talent, now give up Ave and write about something else for a change.

Adriana Trigiani's Milk Glass Moon is a return home for fans of the first two books in the Big Stone Gap trilogy. Ms Trigiani skillfully allows her characters to age and their relationships to develop, leaving the readers to feel as if we have come to know them as friends. Ave Maria , her husband Jack, and her daughter Etta remain the main characters, and we are also able to follow the stories of Pearl, Fleeta, Theodore Tipton, Spec and the rest of the quirky characters who reside in this small town.
An overall theme of the book is growth -- Etta is growing up and Ave is growing comfortable with the choices she has made in her life. Along with growth comes change, and Ave's struggles with the changes in her life are poignantly depicted.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler, and if you have not read those yet, you have a treat ahead of you!

This is the third and final (?) installment in Trigiani's series about the people of Big Stone Gap and the MacChesney family. The second book was an unrealistic portrayal of life after the death of a child, but in this third book, Trigiani really hits home with her central theme of mother/daughter conflict during the teenage years. She knows her stuff and paints a compelling portrait of a family adjusting to the fact that their little girl is growing up.

This book ends with all the characters having completed 180 degree turns on their lives. Will this be the last we hear from the residents of Big Stone Gap?

I always enjoy Adriana Trigiani's books. The Big Gap series takes place in the mountains of Virginia not too many hours from where I live. Her stories are uncomplicated but draw you in. They are easy to read making them wonderful for travel or the beach. Italy always seems to play a part in her stories.

This is the first Adriana Trigiani book for me, and I thought it was wonderful! We live in SW Virginia, but have never visited Big Stone Gap. Loved the characters and the scenery, there and in Italy! Great read!

I always enjoy Adriana Trigiani's books. The Big Gap series takes place in the mountains of Virginia not too many hours from where I live. Her stories are uncomplicated but draw you in. They are easy to read making them wonderful for travel or the beach. Italy always seems to play a part in her stories.

This is the first Adriana Trigiani book for me, and I thought it was wonderful! We live in SW Virginia, but have never visited Big Stone Gap. Loved the characters and the scenery, there and in Italy! Great read!

I love anything this woman writes. I am an addict now and try to find what she's written that I havenn't read. This one was good but created angst with the little girl always butting up on her Mom. But they needed to do that to understand each other and work things out. I realized that after a while and got into it, because I've been through some of that with my 4 children. I know what she was going through. She knows human nature and has experienced so much drama in her life with family and friends and so I do beleive Ms. Trigiani can relate to just about all of us with her stories.

I love Adriana Trigiani's work. I've read several of her books,and they're always,heartwarming. I loved this trilogy and how the book ended. The only thing I'm tired of in her work and several other authors work is that the female protagonist always has a gay man for a best friend. Every one is a carbon copy of the one I read about in some other novel. I mean it's like having a gay best friend is the new recipe for having a successful story and its just not fresh anymore.

What a wonderful trilogy. Very sweet and honest. I enjoyed every moment reading it and looking forward to the continued story with Ave Marie and Jack and Etta and Stefano and all the other characters of Big Stone Gap.

This third book is an excellent continuation of the series. We learn some answers from earlier books and it leads nicely and into a fourth installment. I can't wait to see what is next for Ave Maria and Jack.