Big Stone Gap

   After reading such a heavy classic, I wanted to cleanse my palate.  And this book surely did the trick!   A small community in the mountains of Virginia.  What an interesting collection of people!
  The protagonist is an unmarried, Italian  pharmacist.  
  Right on the first page, there is a passage about the local Bookmobile.  I loved this:
   " The Wise county Bookmobile is one of the most beautiful sights in the world to me.  When I see it lumbering down the mountain road like a tank, then turning wide and easing onto Shawnee Avenue, I flag it down like an old friend.  I've waited on this corner every Friday since I can remember.  The Bookmobile is just a government truck, but to me it's a glittering royal coach delivering stories and knowledge and life itself.  I even love the smell of books.  People have often told me that one of their strongest childhood memories is the scent of their grandmother's house.  I never knew my grandmother, but I could always count on the Bookmobile."

   I got a chuckle out of Otto and Worley- the town handymen who drive around town on an open flatbed truck, picking up people's discards.  In some parts of town they are known as "Are Yo'all Using That?"  Worley said, "I like sleeping and eatin'.  Workin' wears me out.  Wind up all tarred and ferget how I spent the day".
   Simple characters, simple language, nice mountain setting, and,  don't forget that single pharmacist. Of course, there is a love story there.  Good for cleansing the palate.

This book was made into a movie starring

 Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, and Whoopi Goldberg. 

 Looks good!