Adriana Trigiani grew up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. She graduated from Saint Marys College in South Bend, Indiana. She is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. She was a writer for The Cosby Show and A Different World. Her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, was published in 2001. Her other works include Big Cherry Holler; Milk Glass Moon; Home to Big Stone Gap; Lucia, Lucia; The Queen of the Big Time; Rococo; Very Valentine; Viola in Reel Life; and The Shoemakers Wife. She also wrote a cookbook entitled Cooking with My Sisters and a non-fiction book entitled Dont Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers. Her title Shoemakers Wife made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012.