THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME

This moving and persuasive family tale of an Italian-American clan in Roseto, Pennsylvania, follows Nella Castelluca from girlhood in the 1920s to her death in the 1980s. Nella is a wonderful character, brave, smart, and apparently indomitable. Her first love disappears, then reappears the week of her wedding day, changed in a way that rocks her. Her plans to go to college and become a teacher are derailed by an accident that nearly kills her father and forces her into factory work to support her family, and yet she thrives. Cassandra Campbell's young, warm, contemporary voice is fine for young Nella. It fails to age as Nella does, but remains very likable, as does Nella herself. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 04/ JAN 05]