The blurb:
Introducing Truly Plaice, a woman of indomitable spirit whose heart is far larger than her giant exterior...
When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the whole town of Aberdeen lined to bet on the weight of the baby who could stretch a woman to such epic proportions. Young Truly would pay the price of her enormity. Her father blamed her for her mother's death in childbirth and was totally ill equipped to raise either this giant child or her older sister and polar opposite, Serena Jane, the epitome of feminine perfection. His early death would leave Serena Jane to a life of privilege as the town's May Queen and Truly to an existence with an outcast family on a rattletrap, rundown farm.
While Truly's remarkable size makes her the subject of constant curiosity and humiliation, Serena Jane's beauty proves to be both a blessing and a curse. Being the prettiest girl in town will make her the obsession of Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans, Aberdeen's family doctors for generations. And Bob Bob will set off a chain of events that change the destiny of all Aberdeen County.
As Truly grows older - and ever larger - she will become linked to Sarah Jane's fate. . .and in a different way from her sister's become a target of Bob Bob's intense interest. But when she uncovers the Morgan family secret, a centuries-old shadow book penned by the first doctor's witch-wife. Tabitha, she may have found the key to her own unique future
Armed with dangerous secrets from Aberdeen's past, Truly soon confronts life altering moral decisions about whether or how she should use her newfound knowledge. As she practices her herbal healing, she is drawn ever more tightly into the circle of the town until she learns of a betrayal so huge, even she is dwarfed by it. In the end, Truly will be forced to face her own larger-than-life demons, redefine mercy, and consider the possibility that love cannot be ordered to size.
A poignant story of friendship, love, and identity that is laced with magic and humor, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County breaks new ground with its larger-than-life heroine and her entrance into the ranks of modern literature.
Review:
If you enjoy John Irving's tales set in New England towns, especially A Prayer for Owen Meany, then Tiffany Baker's The Little Giant of Aberdeen County will likely appeal to you. Tiffany Baker gives us the same sense of fantastic when she recounts the town's history, events in Truly's life, and those of her closest friends.
This sense of fantastic is complemented by the close look into small town life. The most powerful and haunting parts of the book come from the insults, and unkindness that Truly and other "misfits" undergo and the quiet conversations between Truly and her friends as she makes sense of her world.
SPOILER ALERT!
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is carefully crafted, funny, and haunting. As I read the book, I kept wishing that Truly would push back and teach the bullies a lesson. I am likely more bloodthirsty than your usual reader, and though I enjoyed The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, I would have loved scenes of revenge!
ISBN-10: 0446194220 - Paperback $13.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 25, 2010), 368 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:
Tiffany Baker lives in Tiburon, California with her husband and three children. This is her first novel.
Listen to an interview of Tiffany Baker at BlogTalkRadio @
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/grandcentralpub/2010/01/27/live-interview-with-tiffany-baker-author-the-littl
Join an online discussion with Tiffany Baker on GoodReads at
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/28426.The_Little_Giant_of_Aberdeen_County
Interested? Want your own copy? Join my contest before Jan 31.
Thank you so much to Valerie and Hatchette Book Group for this review opportunity!
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