NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ave Maria must decide between old love and new adventures in this enthralling second novel in the beloved Big Stone Gap series   “Heartwarming . . . Everything that really matters is here: humor, romance, wisdom, and drama.”— The Dallas Morning News Eight years have passed since Ave Maria Mulligan married Jack Mac, moved up into the hills, and dug in her roots even deeper. But Ave Maria soon discovers that the mountains cannot shelter her from the painful lessons of the heart. As her life reaches a crossroads, almost everybody in town has advice to offer—including the Bookmobile’s self-appointed sexpert Iva Lou Wade, savvy pharmacy owner Pearl Grimes, crusty chain-smoking cashier Fleeta, and of course, the always-wise band director Theodore Tipton. But when Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy for the summer, her passion for a seductive stranger will test her marriage—and push her to choose the man who is truly her destiny. At once funny and deeply poignant, resonant with the power of love and forgiveness and the unexpected events that force us to stake a claim in our own lives, Big Cherry Holler is a wise, wonderful story to treasure.   Don’t miss any of Adriana Trigiani’s beloved Big Stone Gap series BIG STONE GAP • BIG CHERRY HOLLER • MILK GLASS MOON • HOME TO BIG STONE GAP “[Adriana] Trigiani is a wonderful storyteller. . . . Readers will enjoy Big Cherry Holler immensely.” — USA Today   “Trigiani never loses hold of the hearts of her characters—or of the wisdom that tragedy and redemption are also part of life.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch   “As skillfully as Ms. Trigiani makes us laugh, she makes us cry.... This novel shares the strengths of Big Stone Gap . Its dialogue is perfectly tuned to the speech of Southwest Virginia. Its settings—a mountain town in Virginia and a mountain town in Italy—are portrayed accurately, with beautiful detail. Its pace never lags for a moment. Big Cherry Holler builds on these strengths and moves to a more involving emotional level. . . . Satisfying reading.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch   “Trigiani can make you laugh in one sentence then break your heart the next. Her Big Stone Gap series is sure to become the next Mitford.” — The Clarion-Ledger   “A big-hearted novel that alternates dollops of comfort with moments of folksy charm and stark poignancy . . . Ave is a spunky and likable narrator; the novel is populated with many of the same characters readers found endearing the first time around; and the story of a mother grappling with grief over the loss of a child is genuinely moving.” — Publishers Weekly   “Recommended . . . This novel of love and forgiveness delivers its story in a believable manner. Ave Maria remains someone readers would like to know, and Iva Lou, her librarian friend, still has her finger on the pulse of Mars/Venus relationships in this neck of the woods.” — Library Journal “Trigiani provides plenty of colorful scenery, whether she’s traversing the Appalachians or the Alps. Her narrative canters along at a lively pace, and her supporting characters, especially Iva Lou and Fleeta, supply comic relief.” — The State “ Big Cherry Holler is every bit as engaging as its predecessor is and bittersweet. Trigiani fans will want more pages to turn.” — Style Weekly BIG CHERRY HOLLER, the extraordinary sequel to BIG STONE GAP, takes us back to the mountain life that enchanted us in Adriana Trigiani?s best selling debut novel. It?s been eight years since the town pharmacist and long time spinster Ave Maria Mulligan married coal miner Jack MacChesney. With her new found belief in love and its possibilities, Ave Maria makes a life for herself and her growing family, hoping that her fearless leap into commitment will make happiness stay. What she didn?t count on was that fate, life, and the ghosts of the past would come to haunt her and, eventually, test the love she has for her husband. The mountain walls that have protected her all of her life can not spare Ave Maria the life lessons she must learn. BIG CHERRY HOLLER is the story of a marriage, revealing the deep secrets, the power struggle, the betrayal and the unmet expectations that exist between husband and wife. It is the story of a community that must reinvent itself as it comes to grips with the decline of the coal mining industry. It is the story of an extended family, the people of Big Stone Gap, who are there for one another especially when times are tough ? including bookmobile librarian and sexpert Iva Lou Wade Makin, savvy businesswoman Pearl Grimes, crusty cashier Fleeta Mullins, and Rescue Squad captain Spec Broadwater, who faces the complications of his double life. Ave Maria?s best friend Theodore Tipton, now band director at the University of Tennessee, continues to be her chief counselor and conscience as he reaches the pinnacle of marching band success. When Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy for the summer, she meets a handsome str