The Queen of the Big Time
by Adriana Trigiani
List Price: $13.95
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780812967807
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Known
and loved around the world for her sweeping Big Stone Gap trilogy
and the instant New York Times bestseller Lucia, Lucia,
Adriana Trigiani returns to the charm and drama of small-town life
with The Queen of the Big Time. This heartfelt story
of the limits and power of love chronicles the remarkable lives of
the Castellucas, an Italian-American family, over the course of three
generations.
In the late 1800s, the residents of a small village in the Bari
region of Italy, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, made a mass
migration to the promised land of America. They settled in Roseto,
Pennsylvania, and re-created their former lives in their new home-down
to the very last detail of who lived next door to whom. The village's
annual celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel --- or "the Big
Time," as the occasion is called by the young women who compete
to be the pageant's Queen --- is the centerpiece of Roseto's colorful
old-world tradition.
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 farm life, which have taken a
toll on her mother and forced her father to take extra work in the
slate quarries to make ends meet. But Nella's dreams of making her
own fortune shift when she meets Renato Lanzara, the son of a prominent
Roseto family. Renato is a worldly, handsome, devil-may-care poet
who has a way with words that makes him irresistible. Their friendship
ignites into a fiery romance that Nella is certain will lead to
marriage. But Nella is not alone in her pursuit: every girl in town
seems to want Renato. When he disappears without explanation, Nella
is left with a shattered heart. Four years later, Renato's sudden
return to Roseto the night before Nella's wedding to the steadfast
Franco Zollerano leaves her and the Castelluca family shaken. For
although Renato has chosen a path very different from Nella's, they
are fated to live and work in Roseto, where the past hangs over
them like a brewing storm.
An epic of small-town life, etched in glorious detail in the trademark
Trigiani style, The Queen of the Big Time is the
story of a determined, passionate woman who can never forget her
first love.
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1. Describe
the relationships within the Castelluca family. Do you think families
today possess similar values? How does Nella relate to her sisters,
in particular Assunta and Elena?
2. When Nella first meets
Renato Lanzara, she thinks, "This must be what love at first
sight feels like." Do you think Nella's first encounter with
Renato Lanzara is really love at first sight? What is it about him
that is so attractive to her? Do her feelings signify more than
simply an adolescent crush?
3. By setting up an arranged marriage between Assunta and Alessandro,
Nella's parents are employing a tradition from their past in Italy.
Does this practice gel with their new existence in America? How
does Nella's generation view this arranged marriage? How does Alessandro's
arrival change the dynamics within the Castelluca family? How does
Allesandro regard his sisters-in-law?
4. Upon meeting at the Columbus School, Nella and Chettie quickly
become friends. How does their relationship compare to those that
Nella has with her sisters? What qualities does Chettie have that
differ from the Castelluca girls'? How does the quarry accident
affect their friendship?
5. In the 1920s, it was rare for a woman to receive admiration
and respect in the workplace, especially from a man. What is it
about Nella that impresses Mr. Jenkins?
6. How are issues of class and race explored in The Queen of the
Big Time? How do you think the Castellucas' lives would differ if
they didn't live in their transplanted Italian enclave?
7. When tragedy hits, how do the Castellucas deal with change and
adjust their roles within the family? How do the ways they rely
on one another change?
8. Why isn't Nella interested in Franco at first? What are the
qualities she's looking for in a man? How do Franco and Renato differ,
and why do you think she ends up choosing Franco over someone like
Renato?
9. Religion plays a large role in the townspeople of Bari. How
big a part does it play in Nella's life? When does she turn toward
her religious values? Did your view of clergy members change after
Nella and Renato's encounter in Italy?
10. In many of her novels, Trigiani has explored the complicated
dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship. How would you characterize
the relationship between Nella and her mother, compared to that
of Nella and Celeste? How does Nella and Celeste's relationship
change as Celeste grows older?
11. Do you think it is possible for one to find true love more
than once in a lifetime? How is Nella's love for Renato different
from her love for Franco? Are both loves "true"?
12. In what ways can Nella be considered a "Queen of the Big
Time"?
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"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
"A sweet story of growing up, marrying, and dying within the framework of family, love, and community...[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
"Heartfelt ... Readers who have fallen for Trigiani's hallmark personages ... in previous books will delight in meeting the new ones É [Paints] a thorough picture of Italian-American family life and the deep pain of lost love."
— Publishers Weekly
"Full-bodied and elegantly written ... Trigiani builds [The Queen of the Big Time] around an old-fashioned love story ...Pure pleasure."
— Washington Post Book World
