big stone gap (va.)

Ave Maria Mulligan, a thirty-five-year-old spinster in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, is jolted out of her rut when her mother reveals a shocking secret, and things become even more exciting when Elizabeth Taylor announces plans to visit the sleepy town.

When Ave Maria Mulligan spends time in Italy and Jack stays home in Virginia to get a new business off the ground with an eager saleswoman, their marriage is tested--but Ave Maria finds help from the Big Stone Gap mountain community.

In the rural town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney struggles to deal with change as her daughter enters her teen years, growing more and more strong-willed, and Ave Maria embarks on a journey into her past that she never thought she would take.

Nestled in the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the town of Big Stone Gap has been home to Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney and her family for generations. She's been married to her beloved Jack for nearly twenty years, raised one child and buried another, and run a business that binds her community together, all while holding close her tight circle of family and friends. But with her daughter Etta, having flown the nest to Italy, Ave Maria has reached a turning point. When a friend's postcard arrives with the message "It's time to live your life for you, " Ave Maria realizes that she must go in search of brand new dreams. But before she can put her foot on the path, her life is turned upside down.

Ave Maria Mulligan, a thirty-five-year-old spinster in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, is jolted out of her rut when her mother reveals a shocking secret, and things become even more exciting when Elizabeth Taylor announces plans to visit the sleepy town.

Eight years into her marriage, now a mother, Ave Maria Mulligan struggles with temptation in the form of a handsome stranger on vacation in Italy, suspecting that her husband is having an affair.

In Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Ave Maria struggles to raise her independent teenage daughter who falls in love while visiting relatives in Italy.

Ave Maria's life gets complicated when her daughter leaves for Italy, she directs a musical, and she has a falling out with her friend Iva Lou.