Grabs you from its astonishing beginning to its riveting conclusion. Its charms are multitude-- a wholly unique love story, a devastating friendship, a bewitching multi-generational history... A must-read. --Sara Gruen, author of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS"Mixes the exuberant eccentricities of John Irving, Anne Tyler's relationship savvy and Margaret Atwood." ( PW, Starred Review) A beautiful, startling and wholly original novel, LGOAC is infused with magic, lush language, and surprises on every page. This book is a treasure. --Stephanie Kallos, author of BROKEN FOR YOUA bracing, bright, masterful debut, Tiffany Baker is a writer to watch. --Joshilyn Jackson, author of THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING"This fun, folkloric story is part Ugly Duckling , part Tim Burton's Big Fish .... For anyone looking to vanquish the cruelties of the real world, this one's for you." (Marie Claire) "A little pearl of a book... like buried treasure." (The Dallas Morning News) "Baker's writing is beautiful. Her descriptive style crafts Truly's emotions into sentences that are hidden treasures." (The Las Vegas Review-Journal) "An alluring plot... lush voice... Baker has a good sense of the dark comedy of melodrama." (Washington Post) "One splendid book... Pick of the week." (Boston Sunday Globe) "First-time novelist Tiffany Baker uses the omniscient first-person narrator with ease. Although written in the past tense, the straightforward timeline construction manages to deliver for its characters a fairy-tale quality of coming, going and being all at once. Truly's wisdom and self-possession are the charm." (The San Francisco Chronicle) "Tiffany Baker poured her whole heart into this weird and wonderful first novel-- and the result resembles its heroine: ungainly but magical; grotesque but true." (Chicago Sun-Times) "But the brilliant part of this book is the colorful world of Aberdeen that Baker constructs; she weaves together a multitude of little bits to fashion one genuinely entertaining story." (Wisconsin State Journal) "Truly Plaice is a heroine for our times. She is also a mercy killer, a healer, a loyal and loving friend, aunt and sister and the star of an enchanting first novel." (USA Today) Tiffany Baker is the author of The Gilly Salt Sisters and The Little Giant of Aberdeen County , which was a New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. She holds an MFA (creative writing) and a PhD (Victorian Literature) from UC Irvine, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children.
Features & Highlights
When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the town of Aberdeen joined together in betting how recordbreakingly huge the baby boy would ultimately be. The girl who proved to be Truly paid 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 polar opposite sister Serena Jane, the epitome of femine perfection. When he, too, relinquished his increasingly tenuous grip on life, Truly and Serena Jane are separated--Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the future May Queen and Truly to live on the outskirts of town on the farm of the town sadsack, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation at the hands of her peers. Serena Jane's beauty proves to be her greatest blessing and her biggest curse, for it makes her the obsession of classmate Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans who have been doctors in Aberdeen for generations. Though they have long been the pillars of the community, the earliest Robert Morgan married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson, and the location of her fabled shadow book--containing mysterious secrets for healing and darker powers--has been the subject of town gossip ever since. Bob Bob Morgan, one of Truly's biggest tormentors, does the unthinkable to claim the prize of Serena Jane, and changes the destiny of all Aberdeen from there on. When Serena Jane flees town and a loveless marriage to Bob Bob, it is Truly who must become the woman of a house that she did not choose and mother to her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie. Truly's brother-in-law is relentless and brutal; he criticizes her physique and the limitations of her health as a result, and degrades her more than any one human could bear. It is only when Truly finds her calling--the ability to heal illness with herbs and naturopathic techniques--hidden within the folds of Robert Morgan's family quilt, that she begins to regain control over her life and herself. Unearthed family secrets, however, will lead to the kind of betrayal that eventually break the Morgan family apart forever, but Truly's reckoning with her own demons allows for both an uprooting of Aberdeen County, and the possibility of love in unexpected places.
Customer Reviews
Rating Breakdown
★★★★★
30%
(107)
★★★★
25%
(89)
★★★
15%
(53)
★★
7%
(25)
★
23%
(81)
Most Helpful Reviews
★★★★★
1.0
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Boring, the worst sin of all
I looked on Amazon expecting to see the book trashed and was surprised at all the glowing reviews. So here's another voice of dissent.
I really hated this book but a friend recommended it--because I like "dark and quirky books"-- so I had to finish the thing. Let me be clear that I always appreciate good writing, no matter the genre or theme.
Egads, this book simply tries too hard! It's overworked on the sentence level and underworked at the plot and theme levels.
The folks who warned about the annoying (over)use of uninspired similes and metaphors weren't exaggerating. The story is predictable, the foreshadowing is unsubtle and repetitive, and the characters lack depth. And despite being as different from each other as possible, the characters are all kind of the same, somehow.
At the very least I hope I've convinced you to use the 'look inside this book' feature.
14 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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Excellent Start, Poor Ending
I really enjoyed this book, up until the last few chapters. I liked Truly and would have liked to have seen her do well. I liked that she was flawed, which gave her dimension. I liked her and Marcus' gentle romance. But, Truly didn't seem connected to anyone in this book. The author kept telling us how much Truly loved her sister, but other than the incident with trying to give her sister their mother's mirror, the author did not show Truly's love for her sister. In fact, I would say, through most of the book, Truly seemed truly (pardon the pun) disconnected from everyone.
I can understand a child like Truly feeling neglected and uncared for by the community in general - being the fat kid growing up, I can relate to how fellow students as well as adults push the oddballs to the side and ignore them or neglect them.
My biggest problem is when Truly and Serena Jane's father died, Truly didn't seem to react at all to it other than, Daddy's dead, oh well, off to live with the Dyerson's. Also, Truly seemed more affected by Priscilla Sparrow's and Robert Morgan's deaths than by that of Amelia. Pricilla Sparrow and Robert Morgan were two people who spent a life time tormenting Truly, and them she had pity and sympathy for, but Amelia? None it seemed. In fact, it came off rather cold that Truly moved into Amelia's house right after Amelia killed herself due to Truly's rejection.
I would have thought considering the blackmail and cruelity that Robert Morgan subjected Truly too, that she would understand that pain that Amelia was going through.
This was a very interesting premise for a story, and would have been improved greatly if the author had managed to show us that Truly felt anything for anyone.
6 people found this helpful
★★★★★
2.0
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Incredibly disappointed!
This book has been on my reading list since I first saw it advertised in Bookpage. I've waited oh-so patiently for it to come out on paperback and finally got around to reading it. There's no other way to describe this book than disappointing. It really has such potential, but the author falls short of creating anything memorable.
Her characters are larger than life (Truly is literally so), but they have the depth of a puddle. As a reader, you never really get to see any real emotion from the characters. I expect Truly, the so-called giant, to show a little more sadness at the loss of her beloved sister. And when things go wrong with Amelia, a friend who's more to Truly than her real sister ever was, it's almost like she feels nothing at all. A few paragraphs tell us that Truly is heartbroken by this tragedy, but we never see it.
That's one thing I couldn't get over about this book. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. There's nothing in the story that made me want to keep reading. It was a chore to pick it up each day. My writing teachers have always said that you need to SHOW the readers what's going on, instead of simply TELLING them. Although the difference is subtle, I think it makes all the difference, especially in a book like this.
6 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Uneven, But Well Worth the Reading
Yes, there are a lot of aspects of this novel that are uneven, in both the writing style and in the story itself. What more can I add? This is the 97th review!
However, I loved this book! I could hardly put it down. The story and the characters take a lot of zigs and zags along the way, so I was constantly intrigued to see what would happen next. (Too bad so many reviewers gave it all away.) I disagree with reviewers who say there is no character development. Truly, and her relationships with those in her present and the past, are constantly changing as she grows up and grows and changes. Her own evolution and maturation is not a straight line, which I found to be quite believable. Her thoughts and attitudes are often contradictory. She's quite human.
One thing not often mentioned in these reviews is that Little Giant extensively treats some sensitive, controversial social topics. I won't give away what they are, but you might find the treatments disturbing, "politically incorrect," or perhaps thought-provoking and enlightening. Truly is not an easily understood nor easily loved character. But she's mighty intriguing. I found the book to be a real page-turner and stayed up way too late too many nights reading it.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Don't critique, just enjoy.
I'll spare you yet another synopsis and cut to the chase. While I can't argue with some of the criticism, I recommend that you sit back and just enjoy a tale well told. Truly will touch you while at the same time you will be exasperated that she allows herself to be used. And, SPOILER ALERT!!, the happy ending does not feel false. Sit back and enjoy.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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Reading At The Beach: Reviews
When I first saw this book, I really wanted to read it. Finally I got a copy, but by then there were so many mixed reviews that I didn't know if I'd like it or not. To tell you the truth, I liked it... and I didn't. I loved the writing style and the overall story, but felt that it could have had a lot less pages if it hadn't gone on and on about how big Truly was. I got that within the first few pages. I fell in love with Truly, she was such an interesting, loveable character. Her mother died giving her life and and her father wasn't an ideal parent. Truly and her sister had a rough childhood, but Truly's was made even worse because of her size. She overcame so much and I marveled at how well she handled her condition. Some of the other characters were so mean, I just couldn't find anything about them to like. I have both good and bad thoughts about the book. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but think if I hadn't been so excited to read it I would have liked it even more.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Truly Wonderful
It's 1953 in a small town in NY state and a giant sized baby girl is born. This is the story of life in a small town , the lives we are sometimes forced to live and the choices we sometimes have to make. Wonderful charachters highlight this tale of families and their legends.
2 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Good things come in Big packages too!
About: A young woman who is looked upon as a "giant" because she is abnormally large and treated with indifference and sometimes with cruelty.
Descriptive Words: heartbreaking, uplifting, mystical old world qualities.
Thoughts: When this book came out last year I read quite a few favorable and not so favorable reviews. I knew that this was one that I wanted to read for myself. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to decide whether or not I believed in Truly's world. I can honestly say that throughout the book I found myself not liking Truly and then with the turn of the page, having extreme sympathy for her. She tells her story with unflinching honesty and gives no passes for anyone's behavior. Even her own. I think what I will take away the most from this story is how Truly accepts who she is in the end and is fine with what she sees in the mirror. I found myself truly (no pun intended) immersed in her story of life in Aberdeen County.
Source: Newman Communications
Why I Chose: I wanted to read it last year but never made the time. When I was asked to review 'The Little Giant of Aberdeen County' for the paperback launch I couldn't resist!
Recommend? Yes, I think Truly Plaice is a character that you should get to know personally!
Rating: 4/5
2 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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Weighty
Tiffany Baker has written a hefty novel about a giant woman, cruel people, and making a life out of the life that is given. Told in a unique omniscient voice but first person narrative, we get to know Truly, a woman who has seen little love and much scorn. The reader follows her through birth to her late thirties/early forties so the time frame taken on is impressive.
With colorful similes, Baker has created this unlikely heroine who sees life from a tower of flesh and girth and through the lens of an outcast. Not light in the reading because the plot line contains plenty of death, there is still an overall brooding hopefulness within the story. I didn't find many laughs within this novel as a gray cloud of melancholy hung over Truly.
The novel digs deeper and covers more territory than I expected, though the opening paragraphs told me that there would be moments of both light and darkness. It's hard to suggest Little Giant to a specific genre fan. Literary fiction lovers should like the tone and the tale unless bothered by similes because there are quite a few. Those who just want a feel good story may want to hesitate to make sure they know what they are jumping into with Little Giant. Yes, it's feel good but it's not easy feel-good, instead it requires a lot from those who read it and the story may haunt them after the final page is turned. I definitely wouldn't suggest it to chick-lit junkies or inspirational fiction lovers. If you are a fan of Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone you may find Truly to be bigger than the pages who hold her. Some have likened Little Giant to the movie Big Fish and there is definitely a tone that the two share.
2 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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Good but...(3.5/5.0)
Truly Place was from birth destined to have a hard life. For starters her mother dies immediately after her birth, leaving her to be raised by a grief stricken father. To make matters worse, she is a disappointment in gender and size. While everyone expected her to be a boy, due to the size her mother's pregnancy, she is born female and is an enormous baby. And as life's final joke on her, she is born into a family with a sister whose beauty is almost a thing of legend. While her sister Serena Jane is slight and gorgeous, Truly is large and ugly. Before long Truly is a thing of ridicule by almost all around her and when her father dies, after years hooked to a bottle, she is sent to live with the town outcasts.
Truly much like a Dickensian character faces hardships that would break any normal person's spirit. Though she loves her sister immensely, Serena Jane merely tolerates her and ignores her when in certain company. Her father overwhelmed by his wife's death first tries to understand his giant of a child but he too eventually succumbs to the general ill will toward Truly, mocking and ill treating her. The only people who show Truly any love are her classmate Marcus and her foster family. But even with these people, the love is limited and strained not because of their unwillingness to give it but because of the hardships of their own lives.
This was an intense book that I was unable to put down. It was painful, sad and delved into relationships of all kinds. The damage that we do to each other as we transverse our feelings for one another, our cruelty to each other and the capacity to hate anything not the norm are all explored and dealt with . But as much as I enjoyed the story, the end was an enormous let down. With all the difficult circumstances that Truly and her loved ones faced, I was expecting a realistic end that would at the very least mirror life. What I ended up with was a cheap happy end that was surprising coming from an author who had so far presented such a powerful story. It really messed up the rest of the book for me and it took a big effort for me not to take a dim view of the whole book. The maturity that the author had so far exhibited somehow evaporated and was replaced with a sappy ending that in my opinion had no place in this story.
Despite the final chapters, I would recommend this book.
