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The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

by Tiffany Baker (Goodreads Author)

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 6,473 ratings · 1,421 reviews

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...more 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.(less)

Paperback, 341 pages

Published January 25th 2010 by Grand Central Publishing (first published January 8th 2009)

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Oct 25, 2008 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advance-reader-s-copy

This is the first novel I've read whose protagonist is, actually, a giant, and not in the fairy tale way. Truly Plaice (LOVE the name) is born huge and grows even more huge. Her early years are taut and miserable, living with an alcoholic father in a tiny town where being anything extreme is discouraged. Her older sister, a model of beauty and decorum, only serves to set Truly off as even more vast and unacceptable. As the years go by and things only seem to get harder, Truly has to search hard...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a terrific read. I love a book that takes over my life as did this gem; which I read in 2 days. The prose, plot, and characters captured my imagination making me eager for the next chapter. As I approached the final pages I lamented that the story would end and I would have to close the book. I highly recommend journeying with Tiffany Baker's Little Giant, Truly and the cast of characters that inhabit Aberdeen both physically and as phantoms woven into a magical quilt. I am in awe of Tiffan...more

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Aug 18, 2008 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Heather by: Advanced Reader's Copy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

20 likes · like · see review

Feb 23, 2009 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I LOVED this book so much! I actually went back and highlighted passages (I wrote in my book- I never do that). Here's one of my favorites:
"She never understood that love- especially that of a child- was the most necessary weight you can endure in life, even if it hurts, even if it tugs bags under the skin of your eyes. Without it, the soul skitters to the edge of the world and teeters there, confused."

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Aug 29, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beautiful-objects, death, that-dreadful-pain, so-this-is-love, what-a-character

Earlier: I remember Jill saying she loved this on gr so long ago--and when I saw it at Dollar Tree, I snatched it up. One buck! Sorry, Tiffany Baker, that your book sold for one buck, but I heard it's good and it's sorta beautiful to me, so I bought it and here I go!

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Aug 15, 2008 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book! Truly is an endlessly fascinating character -- a remarkable heroine who is frustrating and annoying at times, but also sympathetic and inspiring. She and the other townspeople of Aberdeen are amazingly realistic, considering that they live in a borderline magical world. I became totally engrossed in their complicated lives with the result that I spent too many nights reading when I should have been sleeping. I simply couldn't put the book down until I found out how it would en...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Truly Plaice is a giant who continues to grow, long after everyone else has stopped, because of an overactive pituitary gland. Because of her appearance, she is mocked, teased, and rejected by many. There are those who love and accept her too. Her struggle is finding out how to balance both and find her own path in life. She spends many years letting others decide for her, but in the end she does find her own strength and her own peace.

I really enjoyed this novel, but with reservations. The stor...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Since Wally Lamb gave us Dolores Price in SHE’S COME UNDONE, I have yearned for a character like Truly Plaice and now thanks to Tiffany Baker’s superbly imaginative and captivating writing, we have a ‘little giant’ to root for. This book is sheer magic in so many ways as we follow the painfully poignant journey of our heroine, Truly, in a life filled with contrasts: tragedy and small wonders, sorrow and delight, triumph and tragedy.

Aberdeen County, in rural New York State, is a character in its...more Since Wally Lamb gave us Dolores Price in SHE’S COME UNDONE, I have yearned for a character like Truly Plaice and now thanks to Tiffany Baker’s superbly imaginative and captivating writing, we have a ‘little giant’ to root for. This book is sheer magic in so many ways as we follow the painfully poignant journey of our heroine, Truly, in a life filled with contrasts: tragedy and small wonders, sorrow and delight, triumph and tragedy.

Aberdeen County, in rural New York State, is a character in itself as the setting plays into the story in general. This is a small town where everyone is connected in some way either as a family member or through marriage. Of course, in a place such as this, everyone knows each other’s business as well. And Truly Plaice didn’t enter this town quietly but rather as BIG news!

Lily Plaice was expecting her second child in 1953 and was so large during her pregnancy that the townspeople made wagers on how big the baby would be. However, none of the citizens of Aberdeen County were quite prepared for how huge this baby girl really was. Least of which were her parents because Lily Plaice couldn’t handle the size of this baby and she died giving birth to her.

As the narrator of the story, Truly describes how her father was totally unprepared to take care of two young children-herself and older sister, Serena. Due to a pituitary gland deformity, Truly grows larger each day and when she was old enough to realize she was different, there was no sympathetic parent to help her cope with this odd medical condition. Her father is hateful towards her and verbalizes that it was her fault her mother died trying to “push her out”. Truly hopes for an escape when she starts school but instead, she gains her nickname on the first day when the teacher says to her, “You’re a Little Giant”.

Serena and Truly are separated when their father dies and the girls go to live with other families. Serena, pretty and “normal” looking, goes to live with a very rich family while Truly is sent to live on a farm with a very poor family. Amanda Pickerton and her minister husband take in Serena and they adore her and treat her like a doll. Truly was sent to a broken down farm owned by the Dyerson family where she grew to love working outside and with the farm horses. Truly had only two friends, unusual in their own ways, young Amelia Dyerson and a quick minded boy named Marcus. He was a wiz at remembering details. This group made up a pathetic existence for Truly.

Meanwhile, Serena Jane's future seems to be going very well until Bob Bob Morgan comes along. He is the youngest of the Morgan family who have been the town’s doctor for what seems like forever. The Morgan family history goes far back in Aberdeen and the first Morgan supposedly married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson. Tabitha’s secret book of mysterious forces is said to be hidden and it supposedly contains secrets for healing and other mystifying spells. When Serena abandons her son to escape the cruelty of Bob Bob, she leaves Truly to care for her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie, under the hateful eye of her brother-in-law. Bob Bob criticizes Truly because of her body size and degrades her. However, it is in this part of the setting that Truly discovers her fate. She finds a family quilt filled with old family secrets that lead to GIAGANTIC changes in Aberdeen County. From healing potions to life saving emotions, Truly shows she can take the good with the bad and just when you think you have this tale figured out, something else changes to keep you interested until the very end! This little giant of a book by Tiffany Baker is highly recommended and leaves all who have read it looking forward to the next work of Ms. Baker!

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Mar 25, 2010 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard so much about this book that as soon as I eyed it on the library shelf, the familiarity overtook me & I snatched it up. It also does actually have a really appealing cover - it would appear to be women's literature, but something more refined & serene. No cheesy romance or chick-lit. Perfect.
I listened to THE LITTLE GIANT... on audio. I'm pretty picky about audiobook readers - if the reader is wrong for the book, it ruins the enjoyment of what is likely an otherwise great book...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Darlene rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker is an awesome debut novel from this author. She has a beautiful writing style that to me was very reminiscent of Alice Hoffman. This novel kept my attention throughout and it was not one I wanted to put down.

The novel is mainly focused on Truly Plaice who from every description we get is a giant. Truly's mother dies giving birth to her because she is so big and Truly goes on to live a life of teasing and taunts due to her size. Even worse her...more

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Sep 15, 2008 Margaret rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned

Sadly, not a particularly satisfying book, and I admit that I'm giving up at page 140 (out of 341). Wanted to like it, read some good opinions about it, but it's become something of a slog. The "little giant" is Truly Plaice, an enormous girl with an overactive pituitary gland. This is more or less diagnosed on page 58 and then dropped - it's better for the plot to have a freakish main character than a medical story to address her issue or at least for the general populace to understand it medic...more Sadly, not a particularly satisfying book, and I admit that I'm giving up at page 140 (out of 341). Wanted to like it, read some good opinions about it, but it's become something of a slog. The "little giant" is Truly Plaice, an enormous girl with an overactive pituitary gland. This is more or less diagnosed on page 58 and then dropped - it's better for the plot to have a freakish main character than a medical story to address her issue or at least for the general populace to understand it medically. Truly is sister to Serena Jane, described as the incredibly lovely opposite of Truly. Truly loves and admires her sister, but not for any reason the reader can see beyond being blood kin. Serena Jane isn't mean, at least not overly so; she's just, well, rather boring. Unfortunately, Truly is, too. Something wondrous might happen in the last 2/3 of the book to redeem it, but I don't think that a reader, having put in too many nights trying to get into this one, should have to keep up the forced march to get to that wondrous something.

Ms. Baker writes fairly well, although she gets bogged down sometimes in what I'd call overly art-y or unnecessary phrases or sentences. Here is a good description, one of a barn: "...the bittersweet air of the barn, the pungent odors of horses and hay wavering around us." On the same page, here's a description that's unnecessarily distracting: "...his breath billowed out in defeated clouds..." Huh? "Defeated" clouds? Also, an editorial boo-boo that stuck out b/c it was factually inconsistent within the book: In the first part of the book Truly is born and her mother dies immediately at child birth (we find this out up front - I'm not really giving anything away here). Truly is only seconds born when her mother expires (p. 29), but then Truly later describes herself as "just a newborn - squinty and milk-drunk..." when her mother dies. Well, no, this is inaccurate since Truly never nursed before her mother died, and her mother's death is written about in some detail (from Truly's perspective, mind you). A quibble, but the sort of thing one notices when one's actually nursed a baby... Consistency in fiction is important - it's a detail to which an author should pay attention.(less)

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Jan 23, 2009 Marta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved that this book was written from Truly's point of view, using language that evokes a magnificent picture in your mind of her being huge and solid and over-sized. This story almost has a feel of being a fairy tale or folk lore - there is Truly who is considered a giant, the beautiful, beauty queen sister, the witch and her potions, Truly's friend Marcus who is tiny, and the evil Doctor Robert Morgan. The subtlety with which Baker weaves all of these characters in her story and gives them a...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From the book:

"Through the open door I could spy the generous leaves of the chestnut tree fluttering, and I yearned to go and stand under it, listening to its chatter."

"...mirrors are just a device for throwing light back at you, and light is just thousands of phontons - little bitty particles. Miss Sparrow didn't really take anything from you. Whatever you ever saw in that mirror left it long ago and became a part of you. No one can steal that."

"Everything in the world has its two faces, howeve...more

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Dec 29, 2008 Nathan James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who liked Water for Elephants

Recommended to Nathan by: Dusty

Shelves: glbtfriendly

What a good book! Dusty was right when she recommended this book to me saying it was right up my alley. My only qualm is the author's tendency (and don't read this if you fixate on negatives like I do) to overdramatize the future plot lines. It seems like every other chapter ended with something to the effect of "if only she knew how her not saying this will effect her later." But that habit definitely isn't enough to make me not recommend this book wholeheartedly. The characters are lovable, in...more

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Feb 20, 2009 L rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With a unlikely, yet likeable main character like Truly Plaice it is not long before you read, and become interested in her life and those in Aberdeen. The irony is quickly apparent in her giant stature yet in her ability to fade into the background. The plot is a little dark at times, but it proves that you don't need to look a certain way in order to find your place in life. I liked the idea that everyone is given something in life even if on the surface that something seems like a curse or so...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Meh. I finished this book, but it never really captured me. None of the characters were particularly sympathetic and the plot was just okay. I listened to this one, and maybe it was the long, dragged out listening experience that made the book feel long and dragged out - possibly if I had read it (quickly) it wouldn't have felt quite so average. That being said, it was totally clean and no bad language that I can remember, so it won't offend. But it probably won't excite, either.

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Apr 20, 2010 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I chose this book based on title alone, while strolling through Sam's Club. I was not disappointed. This author has a wonderful story-telling ability. Her characters are well developed, the descriptions are poetic, and the plot didin't drag or become stale in any parts. This book was clean, though one character does has same-gender attractions issues, but it's not sensational or salacious. It's more to show sorrow, confusion and it's effect on his family relationships. But this isn't the main st...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-on-my-kindle

Just kinda blah blah and some more blah. Didn't really care for it.

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

From my blog...[return][return]The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker is a novel that immediately draws the reader into the quirky town of Aberdeen and its inhabitants. The reader's view of the town is from Truly who suffers repeated indignities and yet able to view the world through eyes of awe, love, and a deep understanding. Truly and her sister Serena Jane are complete opposites of each other yet their lives reflect the others in many ways throughout the novel. Besides Truly, w...more

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Feb 21, 2009 Jenny Maloney rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-ladies

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. There was something bugging me about this book. It starts off so strong--you've got a little giant who is beat up by the world, a perfect princess sister beside her, and a town filled with 'people of opinion'.

Then something happens: the perfect sister leaves and Truly (the little giant) is stuck raising her child and her ex-husband. I think that this is a big (no pun intended) problem because you lose the juxtaposition of Truly against something small. The best scenes, in my opinion, were betwee...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Very enjoyable. The setting, evocative of a specific time and place, is clearly a discernible and palpable character in this novel. A tale of loss, longing, love, and reckoning. Truly suffers from acromegaly, a condition that makes her grow to gigantic proportions. Left untreated because of her father's distrust and anger toward the town's only doctor, Truly grows at an astonishing rate leaving her the victim of the townspeople's meanness and stingy munificence. Her sister, Serena Jane, on the o...more Very enjoyable. The setting, evocative of a specific time and place, is clearly a discernible and palpable character in this novel. A tale of loss, longing, love, and reckoning. Truly suffers from acromegaly, a condition that makes her grow to gigantic proportions. Left untreated because of her father's distrust and anger toward the town's only doctor, Truly grows at an astonishing rate leaving her the victim of the townspeople's meanness and stingy munificence. Her sister, Serena Jane, on the other hand suffers from great beauty and a deep and abiding shallowness of personality. When their father dies, leaving them orphaned, the two sisters are split apart. Serena Jane goes to live in comfort and adoration while Truly is sent to live in poverty on a farm outside of town. But while Truly resides in physical poverty, her life is nonetheless rich, populated by a family who cares for her in ways that her own family could not. Serena Jane meanwhile grows more shallow and incapable of escaping her own need to live a life without limitations, catapulting the story along to its inevitable crux. Interestingly, the story parallels the ancient story of a local herbalist, Tabitha who married the first medical doctor, Robert Morgan, just after the civil war. Tabitha forsakes her herbal healing methods for unexplained reasons presumably to acquiesce to her new husband. It is never clear why especially since she seems to have no great affection for her new husband. Tabitha quilts her legacy for future generations that has until the present time in the novel remained hidden in obscurity, the stuff of tall tales. Fast forward to Truly caring for her sister's son and husband (Robert Morgan's descendant)as a nanny and housekeeper, still scapegoated and mistreated but long-suffering until she discovers the secrets of the quilt. The revelations of the quilt set in motion both the climax and resolution of the novel, ultimately bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion.(less)

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Feb 08, 2009 RNOCEAN rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 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 a...more 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 healthas 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.
*****A total 5/5. What a wonderful first novel this author has written. I literally had to pace myself in order not to read it all in one sitting. I loved the main character, Truly, and all the other characters in this wonderful book. I hope to read this one again some day. Now when is her second novel going to be published? I can't wait...............
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Sep 06, 2009 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a surprisingly great read! I had read about it a while ago and just found it on the library shelf...it is so good! It does remind you of John Irving's Garp. I could not put it down. Very lovable characters (at least some) in a small town setting. A bit of tragedy, magic, drama, unrequited love...the whole shebang. "Truly", the main character tells her story and you just want to "see "her for yourself! This is the author's first book and I look forward to the next one she's working on...

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Mar 21, 2013 Dot rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a random pick from the library shelf and I was surprised and delighted at how much I enjoyed it. I borrowed the audio version and it was very well read which contributed to my enjoyment. The novel takes place in a small rural town where everybody knows everyone else. The town's doctor is the 4th in his family to hold the position. he is not an evil man, but he is cruel and lacks empathy so that his wife leaves him and his son hates him. The main character however, is his sister-in-law,...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Ricki Treleaven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This week I read The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. The unusual heroine in this book is Truly Plaice. She is renowned in her small town of Aberdeen, New York even before she is born. The whole town is speculating on Truly's weight and on what kind of amazing athlete he would become because surely a woman carrying so large a baby must be having a boy! On the day Truly's mother goes into labor, the whole town arrives on the Plaice's front lawn for the birth. The atmosphere is li...more This week I read The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. The unusual heroine in this book is Truly Plaice. She is renowned in her small town of Aberdeen, New York even before she is born. The whole town is speculating on Truly's weight and on what kind of amazing athlete he would become because surely a woman carrying so large a baby must be having a boy! On the day Truly's mother goes into labor, the whole town arrives on the Plaice's front lawn for the birth. The atmosphere is like a town picnic or celebration: folks bring food, yummy desserts, and raucously place bets on the baby's weight. But when Truly's mother dies during the birth, the town solemnly slinks away with the news that the child is a girl, and the mother is dead.

Truly is obviously some kind of giant (the book does not give too many details on this), and she has an older sister who looks like an angel on earth named Serena Jane. Later in childhood, the girls' father dies and Serena Jane goes to live with the minister and his wife where she is treated like a princess; Truly is sent to live in poverty on the Dyerson's pitiful farm. Serena Jane's beauty makes her the town's May Queen and the obsession with the town's doctor's son, Bob Bob Morgan. Events resulting from this obsession bind Bob Bob and Truly together for many years to come.

All the Morgan men have been doctors since the Civil War (the action of this book begins in the early nineteen fifties). When the first Robert Morgan comes to Aberdeen and marries a witch, the town is hesitant to allow Dr. Morgan to treat them, preferring Tabitha's herbs and "witchery" to his modern medicine. Upon Tabitha's death, many fear that her centuries-old shadow book has been lost forever. One of my favorite parts of the book is how Truly finds Tabitha's shadow book. I am not crazy about how she uses it, however most readers will probably disagree with me.

This book has many elements which make it a great read: the characters are very interesting and complicated; although predictable in a few places, there are enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged; there is also wonderful conflict between magic and medicine; and Truly's capacity to forgive in the face of betrayal is even larger than she is. The love story is one of the most unique in literature, and I think that Truly is a heroine whose story is timely and timeless. There are a few episodes in the novel where I lose sympathy for Truly, and I actually began not to care about her fate. But in retrospect, I was probably judging her too harshly because I so badly want her to be happy and make choices for her own betterment. It is hard for me to believe that The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is a debut novel, but it is. I look forward to more great reads from Tiffany Baker.
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Feb 23, 2013 Molly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

There were bright points in this book and elements I wanted to see expanded: the character of Marcus was perhaps the most compelling but not truly developed, the quilt was a lovely concept and I wanted just a bit more, the concept of clothing as well (particularly since Truly seems so quirky about it and she's born into a quirk, so this could have been made more interesting rather than clunked over), and I think, with the two versions of abandonment, it would have been really interesting to furt...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Sylvia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 29, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, historical-fiction, romance

While a little challenging in the beginning, Truly's story has been an entertaining read.

Nestled in a little town in Appalachia, Truly is born during the 1950's when being different is already hard, let alone if you weigh 12 lbs. at birth. Facing mockery and scorn for her increasing size throughout her whole life, Truly presents a truly (no pun intended) unique look at the trials and tribulations of growing up in a small town with a lot of superstition and very little tolerance. Along the way, T...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Siew Ee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before I started reading this book, I had imagined a story of an oversized woman being rejected and scorned by the townspeople but had the fortitude, spirit and a heart of gold to make her way through life and eventually get accepted by people around her. Not only that, I foresaw someone loving her the way she was and the both of them would live happily after.

Whether I found the book far off from what I expected will not be revealed here to avoid spoiling the reading pleasure for some; What’s mo...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Jessi Hafeman rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think this story could sit comfortably beside "Big Fish," "Benjamin Button," and other tall tales of modern literature/screenplays. The author is extremely poetic. Each sentence spins a thoughtful, observational, and enchanting statement. The writing is extremely beautiful. I found I could not put the book down! Not so much for the characters either but for the way the parable is spoken. Even after the last page, I don't think I discovered all this story's secrets. Every paragraph felt like it...more I think this story could sit comfortably beside "Big Fish," "Benjamin Button," and other tall tales of modern literature/screenplays. The author is extremely poetic. Each sentence spins a thoughtful, observational, and enchanting statement. The writing is extremely beautiful. I found I could not put the book down! Not so much for the characters either but for the way the parable is spoken. Even after the last page, I don't think I discovered all this story's secrets. Every paragraph felt like it had a secret for the reader to unlock.

The setting adds to the magic. Its isolated with a simple but intriguing history that still clings to the modern-day characters. A lot of the characters are a bit small-town sterotypical (the preacher and his wife, the mayor, the teacher), but this actually lends to the irony that Truly finds a way to hide herself away in the small, gray town she is born into.

The real drama of this story is Truly's self-discovery and self-acceptance. She denies herself happiness because of her own fears and prejudices about her size. She's always compared herself to others and sought acceptance from others, but when they'd give it, she couldn't overcome her own self-deprication to accept it. I think Truly is in a lot of women in a meaphorical sense who see themselves as too fat, too ugly, too imperfect to fit in. They/Truly want acceptance from others without accepting themselves first.

Truly does walk a dark path at times, which becomes a little hard to follow and is off putting (mostly in her expiraments on the doctor in his food and drink). At times when she plays the victim, it can be frustrating too. But she suffers consequences and learns to accept her own mistakes. Overall she is a moral character who lets her heart guide her.

All in all, an enchanting tale which brews a little magical realism to wander in. All the ends were tied up. But when I ended the story, I was not sure what I took away from it. So I'd really give it 3-1/2 stars if I could. While a meaningful and deep book, I was not sure what I got out of it. I would read it again though.(less)

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About Tiffany Baker

Tiffany Baker is the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. She lives outside San Francisco with her husband, three children, and tiny hyperactive dog. Her new novel, The Gilly Salt Sisters, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in March 2012.

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“Who says all the lines of love are supposed to match up? I'd never thought about it that way before - that maybe your perfect other wasn't everything you already were, but everything you were never going to be.” — 24 people liked it

“She never understood that love -- especially that of a child -- was the most necessary weight you can endure in life, even if it hurts, even if it tugs bags under the skin of your eyes. Without it, the soul skitters to the edge of the world and teeters there, confused.” — 11 people liked it

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