The Queen of the Big Time, Adriana Trigiani
The Queen of the Big Time, Adriana Trigiani
1 Rating(s)
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The Queen of the Big Time

Author: Adriana Trigiani

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 9 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/31/2004

Categories: Fiction, Women, Family Life, Sagas


Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A heartfelt novel of the power of love across three generations of an Italian-American family, from the author of the Big Stone Gap series

“[An] epic of small-town life . . . A personal saga of American history and a romance woven together with warmth and good humor.”—The Oregonian
 
In the late 1800s, the residents of a small village in coastal Italy migrated to the promised land of America. They eventually settled in Roseto, Pennsylvania, where they re-created every detail of their former lives, including the centerpiece of Roseto’s colorful old-world tradition: the annual pageant for Our Lady of Mount Caramel—or “the Big Time,” as it’s called by the young women competing to be its Queen.
 
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 life on the farm. But her dreams of making her own fortune shift when she meets and falls in love with Renato Lanzaro, a worldly, handsome, devil-may-care poet. When Renato disappears without explanation, Nella is shattered. 
 
Four years later, Renato’s sudden return just before Nella’s wedding to the steadfast Franco Zollerano leaves her shaken. For although Renato has chosen a path very different from Nella’s, they are fated to live and work side by side for the rest of their lives in Roseto, where the past hangs over them like a brewing storm. 
 
Etched in glorious detail in Adriana Trigiani’s trademark style, The Queen of the Big Time is the story of a determined, passionate woman who can never forget her first love.

About The Author

Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her fifteen bestsellers, including the blockbuster epic The Shoemaker’s Wife; the Big Stone Gap series; Lucia, Lucia; the Valentine series; the Viola series for young adults; and the bestselling memoir Don’t Sing at the Table. Trigiani reaches new heights with All the Stars in the Heavens, an epic tale from the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is the award-winning filmmaker of the documentary Queens of the Big Time. Trigiani wrote and directed the major motion picture Big Stone Gap, based on her debut novel and filmed entirely on location in her Virginia hometown. She lives in Greenwich Village with her family.Cassandra Campbell is an actress, director, and teacher who has performed in New York at the Public Theater, the Mint Theater, and the Clurman Theatre. She is an accomplished voice-over artist whose credits include numerous audiobooks, documentaries, and commercials in both Italian and English.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jill on July 20, 2009

I had literally two minutes to pick something at the library. I don't love Adriana Trigiani, although I liked the Big Stone Gap books. In this one, I think she made her common error. Really, she writes character-driven fiction. So, the first half where the characters are developing, is engaging and......more

Goodreads review by Justina on November 19, 2024

Tai mažo miestelio gyvenimo epas apimantis Kastelukų, italų kilmės amerikiečių šeimos tris kartas. Nuostabus pasakojimas apie ryžtingą ir aistringą moteri Nela, kuri niekada nepamiršo savo pirmosios meiles. Bet gyvenime tenka rinktis, kartais paaukoti svajones ar užgniaužti jausmus. Labai graži ir j......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on March 05, 2011

It's been awhile since I've gotten back to Adriana Trigiani, & I forgot how much I loved her stories & how hard it is to explain why I like them so much. What I can say is that Queen of the Big Time is similar to Trigiani's other stories about hard-working emotionally isolated Italian American women......more

Goodreads review by La Libridinosa on November 05, 2020

4 stelle e mezzo Non servono centinaia e centinaia di pagine né tanti volumi per raccontare e bene la storia di una famiglia. Lo si può fare, come ci dimostra Adriana Trigiani con questo romanzo, in maniera completa, senza lasciare lacune né a livello storico né per ciò che concerne i personaggi. Si p......more

Goodreads review by Sidna on August 27, 2016

I'm not sure what to say about this book. The author was new to me and I thought it looked like an interesting story. The story follows one woman, Nella, from the time she is 14-years-old and fell in love for the first time with a 21-year-old man, until her death at the age of 61. Although she reali......more


Quotes

“Pure pleasure. . . full-bodied and elegantly written.”The Washington Post Book World
 
“Moving and poignant . . . Trigiani has again defied categorization. She is more than a one-hit wonder, more than a Southern writer, more than a women’s novelist. She is an amazing young talent.”Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
“[The Queen of the Big Time] will make you smile and reminisce about gentler, more civil times in small-town and rural America.”The Boston Globe
 
“Intensely detailed characters . . . Deaths lead to births, dreams deferred yield wondrous new visions.”Entertainment Weekly