New York: Random House, 2000. SIGNED first edition - Set in Big Stone Gap, Virginia in the year 1973. A family scandal sends the heroine, 35 year-old Ave Maria Mulligan into new levels of activity, shattering her quiet spinster life. First novel by this playwright. With a projected first printing of 150,000 copies, this ARC is much less common than the hardcover copy. SIGNED on the title page, and dated April 2000. 328 pp.