The best summer of our life
The Best Summer of Our Lives is the first novel by the American writer Adriana Trigiani , published by Random House on April 4, 2000. It contains a great deal of autobiographical aspects.
action
Ave Maria Mulligan is Italian-American and lives in the small town of Big Stone Gap in Wise County, Virginia . In this place everyone knows everyone. Ave Maria enjoys her work as a pharmacist, looks after the local theater group and is also a paramedic on the side. Life seems acceptable to her even as a single , and she doesn't worry much about everyday life . That changes with the death of her mother.
In a letter her mother leaves, Ave Maria learns who her birth father is and begins to grapple with her roots. The otherwise so satisfied Ave Maria awakens from her deep slumber , questions her previous life and contacts her Italian relatives.
When she is about to leave her past behind in the sleepy Big Stone Gap, she meets love on winding paths and she receives two marriage proposals. Everything that Ave Maria thought she knew is mixed up and she has to redefine herself completely ...
criticism
Adriana Trigiani lets her protagonist set out on the path to herself through a wealth of different feelings. Given the great biographical resemblance between Ave Maria Mulligan and the author, one wonders how much Trigiani reveals about himself here.
The novel is witty and original, entertaining turbulent and spirited and shows human weaknesses in a lovable way. Whoopi Goldberg describes it as unforgettable and declares it to be one of her favorite novels.
expenditure
- Big Stone Gap . A novel. Random House, New York 2000, ISBN 0-375-50403-6 .
- The best summer of our life . Novel. From the American by Caroline Einhäupl and Charlotte Breuer. Heyne, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-453-17856-4 .
- Paperback: The Best Summer of Our Lives . Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-19882-4 ; ISBN 3-453-21119-7 (large print); ISBN 978-3-453-72009-1 (new edition 2005).
- Audiobook: Ulrike Kriener reads Adriana Trigiani: The best summer of our life . 3 CDs. Heyne, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-453-18899-3 .