Book Report: Home to Big Stone Gap

I just finished reading Home to Big Stone Gap, the fourth book in a series (that I LOVE) by Adriana Trigiani. I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes from the book... (and don't worry, they won't ruin the story!)

On page 69, Ave Maria says to Iva Lou, “The most important thing I have learned as a married woman is to say a quarter of what I’m thinking and leave the rest in my head, where it belongs. I might wind up in the nuthouse, but I’ll stay married.”

On page 86, Ave Maria talks about her daughter Etta, and says… There are things she needs to experience in order to grow beyond the world we created in our home…as with most decisions your children make, you can be sure of them only when time has passed and there’s a context for their choices…maybe fate is the footwork of decisions made with loving intentions…

On page 277, again about Etta, she says, “I realize now that a happy mother may very well make a joyful child.”

I want to try the recipes for Long Winter’s Nap Christmas Cake and Uncle Louis Fisse’s Holiday Cheese Log on pages 180-181.

On page 237, about the trip to Scotland, Ave Maria says, “It’s the power of something to look forward to: it changes the colors of the world from drab to gorgeous.”

On page 278, Ave Maria says, “If only Etta knew how much I want her dreams to come true, but there is no way to say it that she would ever believe. I have a feeling she will find out the moment she holds her own baby in her arms. She’ll know it then.”

On page 287, “Etta is five months pregnant, and the worry wheel that God puts in all mothers has already started to turn.”

On page 294, their new friend Arthur says, “Sometimes we’re just too old to bother to make new friends. I’m almost there. You got here in the nick of time.”

On page 300, Jack tells Ave Maria, “You just have to live, Ave, and let life unfold. Say what you mean. You can’t always think about what you’ve lost, or what you don’t have, or what you didn’t get. Because when you do that, you’re missing out on the now. I’m here with you tonight, but I can’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow or a year from now – or if you will be. I don’t care how many plans you make, you can’t know anything for sure either. We shouldn’t let a day go by when we don’t stop and think about what we are to each other and how the best part of that is the part that changes. That’s the mystery. And that’s the part of people that’s divine. Accepting the unknown and trusting in it.”

Ahh...what a great story!