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Milk Glass Moon
(Big Stone Gap #3)
by
Milk Glass Moon, the third book in Adriana Trigiani's bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that will surprise and enthrall
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Paperback, 384 pages
Published
February 1st 2007
by Pocket Books
(first published January 9th 2002)
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Showing 1-30
Start your review of Milk Glass Moon (Big Stone Gap, #3)
3.75 stars
I am not a romance reader - was in my youth - but haven't really enjoyed a true romance in years.
Now with that said, I love this Big Moon Gap series. It is a family saga, facing all the challenges and crisis of a middle aged marriage, close intercultural flavor, trying to raise a family, with all the interference that society can throw at it. Change, growth and even romance sends this story along on such a human and realistic path that you cannot help but cheer on its small home-town ...more
I am not a romance reader - was in my youth - but haven't really enjoyed a true romance in years.
Now with that said, I love this Big Moon Gap series. It is a family saga, facing all the challenges and crisis of a middle aged marriage, close intercultural flavor, trying to raise a family, with all the interference that society can throw at it. Change, growth and even romance sends this story along on such a human and realistic path that you cannot help but cheer on its small home-town ...more
The third book in the Big Stone Gap series. 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, esp ...more
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, esp ...more
I read the first two in this series and liked them, but by book #3 is was sick of this character (Ave Maria) and her emotional crises. ENOUGH
Really enjoyed this novel, the 3rd in the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani. Although I had enjoyed the first book in the series titled Big Stone Gap, I did not enjoy the 2nd book in the series as much. However, this novel was back at the same enjoyment level for me as the 1st book. I love the characters, Fleeta, the stereotypical redneck Southern woman, Iva Lou, the woman who loved men but had finally found true love with her husband, Lyle, Etta MacChesney, headstrong daughter of Ave Mar
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3.5 stars. I enjoyed the longer timeline that took place through this book. However, it felt a bit rushed at the end as things spiraled to a close. I can’t help but think another few pages to build the last plot line would’ve brought this to a more satisfying ending.
This was pretty much 3 stars....but I appreciated the ending so I am rounding up. I haven't read the other books in this series so I have nothing to compare it to.
I did the audio on this and the author did her own narration. I am not a fan of this at all. The author in this case wasn't completely awful, but she clearly can NOT do voices. It was hard sometimes to follow along on who was talking. She did try to place a noticeable pause between the different people when doing dialog, so that helped ...more
I did the audio on this and the author did her own narration. I am not a fan of this at all. The author in this case wasn't completely awful, but she clearly can NOT do voices. It was hard sometimes to follow along on who was talking. She did try to place a noticeable pause between the different people when doing dialog, so that helped ...more
As always, Trigiani did not disappoint. As much as I disliked Jack Mac in Big Cherry Holler, I grew to love him that much more in Milk Glass Moon. Finally Ave Maria lightened up a little and I didn't find myself being angry with her reactions to the ever present life challenges. I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down. It seems that all too often with book series, the author runs out of ideas or just can't quite live up to the first book; Trigiani and the Big Stone Gap series is not in that c
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Sometimes, books just don't need a sequel. Hunger Games clearly needed sequels. The Fellowship of the Ring clearly needed sequels. But Big Stone Gap? No. There was absolutely NO need for follow-up. Ave Maria is horrible in this book. She makes her daughter's marriage about her, not Etta. She tries to control Etta, which never works, and she's so unsupportive of Jack that it astonished me how he put up with it. There were no shocking twists or turns, no big moments that needed resolve, and certai
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3rd in the series, this book’s main focus is on the evolving relationship between Ave Maria & her daughter Etta. Etta is maturing into a headstrong young woman and making life choices that don’t fit with Ave’s idea of how she should live her life. This struggle of wills is handled with insight & intelligence. The novel jumps around between small town Virginia, the Italian countryside & New York, keeps it interesting. All the great supporting characters are back; at this point they seem like old
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I needed some light reading during the COVID-19 Stay Home Mandate. I’ve read the first two books in the series so decided to take a trip back to Big Stone Gap and visit the characters I had come to know and love.
The story is about a mother/daughter relationship, a trip down Memory Lane a visit with family in Italy, and an examination of what’s really important in life.
The story is about a mother/daughter relationship, a trip down Memory Lane a visit with family in Italy, and an examination of what’s really important in life.
4.5, rounded down
This was a satisfying continuation of the family saga... it just ended on a bit of an abrupt note. I enjoyed the plot and there were a few unexpected things
The author’s audio narration is phenomenal and I was sucked into the story.
Thanks to San Diego County Library for the digital audio version via Libby app.
[Audio: 8 hours, 42 minutes]
Reading Journey: picked up this audiobook 12 times, reading for 5 hours 49 minutes
This was a satisfying continuation of the family saga... it just ended on a bit of an abrupt note. I enjoyed the plot and there were a few unexpected things
The author’s audio narration is phenomenal and I was sucked into the story.
Thanks to San Diego County Library for the digital audio version via Libby app.
[Audio: 8 hours, 42 minutes]
Reading Journey: picked up this audiobook 12 times, reading for 5 hours 49 minutes
The 3rd of 4 in a series, and I think the best so far.
Short little sections that grow into a complete story, no dragging on.
A story of life, death, and family.
Short little sections that grow into a complete story, no dragging on.
A story of life, death, and family.
wasn't sure to start with. set in America, it was different but a really good story when got into it. would definitely like to read the others in the series
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Nice series. Makes me wish for another trip to Italy ASAP! This authors writing is a very different style.
Loved this story! It took me awhile to get into this series, but I enjoyed it when I did.
I'm addicted to these people although they need to shape up!
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I first discovered Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani’s debut novel, over a dozen years ago. It was the summer of 2000 and we had just moved back to Lincoln after living in Fort Worth, Texas for a few years. There’s a lot about that particular summer that I remember quite vividly, but it’s funny how memory eludes us. I would’ve sworn that I loved Big Stone Gap—so much so that I almost re-read the book before I started in on the second in the series—but as I look back through my reading journal for
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I have enjoyed this series for a variety of reasons - I guess the first being that I can identify with the main character, Ave Maria - she is a pharmacist in a Southern town (although I live in a much bigger town than Ave) and she lost her younger child to cancer. The characters are finely drawn and they have become like old friends - Fleeta, Iva Lou, Spec, and the rest. This is the final part of the trilogy and it deals with the changes that Ave and her daughter Etta face as Etta grows up. Jack
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I originally read this book for my Book Club, not realizing it was the third in a series of four books. Milk Glass Moon made way more sense now that I have read the first two books and then re-reading this one. However, I would rate Milk Glass Moon the same as before. So far, I enjoyed the second book (Big Cherry Holler) better than this one and the first one (Big Stone Gap). In Big Cherry Holler, the characters had more dimension. Ave Maria had to come to terms with the loss of her son, her dau
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Unbeknownst to me, i read book 4 first...then when i realized that, i started with book one, and then continued on. This is book three, and probably my favorite of the whole series. (of course, it could be because i have grown so fond of all the characters by now that i really enjoyed the story, and conclusion).
The lead character, Ave Maria, can be a bit annoying, which made the series hard to read sometimes...but in this book, her "annoying" character comes to the realization that she is a pain ...more
The lead character, Ave Maria, can be a bit annoying, which made the series hard to read sometimes...but in this book, her "annoying" character comes to the realization that she is a pain ...more
This was one of the best series of books I've read in years. I think it has something to do with the fact that I enjoyed reading about Ave's depth of thinking...that sometimes works for her, and sometimes works against her. Yet, she has so many men and women in her life that help her to get beyond it (in this book, her daughter gets added to that list).
The timing in this story, of raising her daughter from age 10-18 was somehow not as appealing as some of the others, yet, an integral part of wha ...more
The timing in this story, of raising her daughter from age 10-18 was somehow not as appealing as some of the others, yet, an integral part of wha ...more
I just love this series and love Ave Maria, Jack Mac, Theodore, Iva Lou and most of the characters in it; they are as real to me as the people I grew up with in my own little mountain mining town. Nobody gets into the heads, hearts, and flaws of her still-lovable characters like Trigiani. Granted, Etta is a bore, but bores exist in real life. I am so glad she wrote a fourth book, which I can't wait to read. I guess I don't want a fifth one, if she decides to write it, since the characters are ju
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The third book in the Ave Maria series. Such a comfort read - it's a lovely, warm-hearted book.
Back Cover Blurb:
A daughter's first love, a mother's heartbreak, an enduring marriage facing its own ongoing challenges, and a community faced with seismic changes, all are deep at the heart of Adriana Trigiani's third novel. As she faces the joys and demands of motherhood, Ave Maria continues her life story with her trademark humour and honesty.
Reaching into the past to find answers to the present, Av ...more
Back Cover Blurb:
A daughter's first love, a mother's heartbreak, an enduring marriage facing its own ongoing challenges, and a community faced with seismic changes, all are deep at the heart of Adriana Trigiani's third novel. As she faces the joys and demands of motherhood, Ave Maria continues her life story with her trademark humour and honesty.
Reaching into the past to find answers to the present, Av ...more
The third book in the Big Stone Gap trilogy. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two. Ave Maria's daughter, Etta, is growing up and Ave Maria is facing the realization that all mothers experience--their children are becoming adults and growing away from them. And adjusting to that truth is hard for Ave Maria to face.
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The author read this book and she should have hired out the job. Just lacked expression and energy. Her writing lacked energy also and I was sort of bored with the whole thing and wondered when it would be over. Too contrived and didn't flow. Ave Maria was always a wreck and I wanted her to get her act together. Too predictable and undeveloped characters.
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This was a sweet little book about a mom who is trying to forget a few mistakes in her past while trying to keep her teenage daughter from going astray. The mom is also learning to let her daughter make her own decisions about her future.
One of my favorite authors! I read this series out of sequence but I still loved these characters and I feel like I know them. I would love to see a book on what happens to Etta and Stefano in their marriage in Italy. Just an idea for another book!
This is one of the sequels that you love because you love the characters and want to know what happens to them. Alone, it wouldn't be so good. But I loved seeing where the characters went next. I enjoyed it.
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I have so enjoyed listening to these audio books. They make you feel like a part of their lives.
I loved the first book in the series (Big Stone Gap), and the second one (Big Cherry Holler) was fine.
Milk Glass Moon is also fine, but the Appalachian dialect started to grate. I don’t think it’s become more pronounced, but maybe because I listened to the first two and read the third, I just noticed it more.
I remember this bothering me about the first two books -- Ave Maria just goes and gets angry or argumentative without really finding out what is going on with the other person, be it her h
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Beloved by millions of readers around the world for her "dazzling" novels (USA Today), Adriana Trigiani is “a master of palpable and visual detail” (Washington Post) and “a comedy writer with a heart of gold” (New York Times). She is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen books in fiction and nonfiction, published in 38 languages, making her one of the most sought after speakers in the
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Big Stone Gap
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