Book Review: Queen of the Big Time

I haven't met an Adriana Trigiani novel that I haven't liked. I love the Big Stone Gap books especially, probably because of my obsession with Southern lit. Queen of the Big Time has a totally different feel to it; but like the Big Stone Gap books, it's fast-paced and easy going. Sometimes those kinds of books are completely necessary.

Queen of the Big Time focuses on an Italian-American young girl/woman, Nella, her family, and the entire Italian-American part of town. Having grown up in a town that was largely Italian-American, I was hugely attracted to the novel. Set in rural Pennsylvania in the early- to mid-1900s, the novel follows Nella from a 13-year-old girl who dreams of going to college to a 60-year-old woman with some regrets but on the whole, a happy life. Sounds trite, I know, but it really isn't. Trigiani creates worlds that I am sad to leave when her novels end.

This isn't world-changing, powerful literature. It's a great story with characters you may have met in your own life. I'd even have to use the word, "heartwarming." But in a good way. If you are looking for reading that doesn't suck the life out of you with intensity, I'd recommend any and all of Trigiani's books.

Other Books by Trigiani:
Big Stone Gap, Big Cherry Holler, and Home to Big Stone Gap
Milk Glass Moon
Lucia, Lucia
Rococo
Viola in Real Life
Very Valentine
Brava, Valentine