I read this book by Adriana Trigiani on the plane home from Arizona last week and really enjoyed it. Last year I read another book by Trigiani, Lucia, Lucia, and it was really great also.
The Queen of the Big Time is about a poor Italian family living on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania in the 1920's. Their daughter, Nella, has to give up her dream of schooling when her father is injured. She works in a clothing factory in town, and is so skilled at her job she becomes a forelady at the age of sixteen.
Tragedy comes to several people close to Nella, and as deaths occurred and I read about the pain and suffering the various characters went through, it really pulled at my heartstrings. Trigiani has a way of making it all so real, the reactions and words of the loved ones left behind were so authentic. People had a hard life back then.
Nella falls in love with Renato, but I never knew whether to root for them or hope he went away. Ultimately, he does leave her, with no explanation. But he suddenly reappears the night before Nella's wedding to Franco.
You would expect the story to end pretty quickly after that, but Trigiani goes on with Nella's life, all the way until her death at age 61. I really enjoyed seeing the way Nella dealt with Renato's appearance back in her town, and the surprising way it all turned out in the end.
Nella has become one of those characters I will think about sometimes, like an old friend. And I definitely will read the rest of Trigiani's books (she has a series called Big Stone Gap that is next on my list.)
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