The queen of the big time a novel

A delightful story of love and loss set amidst the heart of an Italian community in Pennsylvania. Nella Castelluca is one of five daughters. Her parents are hard-working farmers, struggling to earn a living from their farm in Delabole, three miles from the town of Roseta. But Nella has no intention of staying on the farm all her life. Blessed with brains and a steely determination, she has her sights firmly set on a career as a teacher, and willingly trudges into Roseta everyday to attend school. Fate, however, has other plans for the Castelluca family, and Nella in particular. A series of tragedies force her to abandon school and take up a job in the local blouse making factory to support her family. Meanwhile, the charms of local barber's son Renato Lanzara, have done their work. She falls passionately in love, and embarks upon a relationship destined to have an impact on the rest of her life. Trigiani's deceptively simple tale of one girl's growth to emotional maturity through suffering and the loss of love, is a familiar one, but Queen of the Big Time is also a sensitive portrayal of an Italian community desperate to preserve their identity and fiercely protective of their own, in the face of war and economic crisis. But the people of Roseta know how to share the happy times as well, and Trigiani shows us a people full of natural joy and exuberance.