The Little Animals

by Sarah Tolmie

”A vigorous, satisfying historical novel full of interesting and likable characters. To people who do truly unusual things, such as discover microscopic life, or paint Vermeer’s pictures, or hear what plague bacilli are saying, these things are just what they do. Sarah Tolmie’s novel catches this intersection of the everyday with the unearthly and holds it for us like a drop of pond water under the lens, vibrant with life and activity, fascinating in its strangeness and its familiarity.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek, a quiet linen draper in Delft, has discovered a new world: the world of the little animals, or animalcules, that he sees through his simple microscopes. These tiny creatures are everywhere, even inside us. But who will believe him? Not his wife, not his neighbors, not his fellow merchants — only his friend Reinier De Graaf, a medical doctor. Then he meets an itinerant goose girl at the market who lives surrounded by tiny, invisible voices. Are these the animalcules also? Leeuwenhoek and the girl form a curious alliance, and gradually the lives of the little animals infiltrate everything around them: Leeuwenhoek’s cloth business, the art of his friend Johannes Vermeer, the nascent sex trade, and people’s religious certainties. But Leeuwenhoek also needs to cement his reputation as a natural philosopher, and for that he needs the Royal Society of London — a daunting challenge, indeed, for a Dutch draper who can't communicate in Latin.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction

373 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 2019

About the author

Sarah Tolmie is the author of the 120-sonnet sequence Trio, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press (release date 1 April 2015) and the chapbook Sonnet in a Blue Dress and Other Poems (Baseline Press, 2014). She has also published a novel, The Stone Boatmen, and a short fiction collection, NoFood, with Aqueduct Press (both 2014).

She is a medievalist trained at the University of Toronto and Cambridge and is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo.

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars for this beautiful enchanting work.

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich verstehe weiterhin nicht, wie Sarah Tolmie so unbekannt sein kann.

[Teleseparatist · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose in this novel is spellbinding, and there is just so much kindness suffusing this story. I think the characterisation of Goose Girl and neurodiversity aspect there might not work for everyone, but I just loved the characters, their interconnections and the ways in which reason, kindness and empathy prevail. This book has a meandering structure that seems difficult to pull off, but works perfectly well here. I will have to read more from this author.

[Caroline Bock · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE LITTLE ANIMALS by Sarah Tolmie is extraordinary historical fiction. Frankly, I loved it! It's set in Delft, in the Netherlands in the late 1600s -- and it's the story of Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek.

Who? An amateur scientist, a cloth merchant or draper as the book says-- but most importantly: the inventor of the microscope and the discovery of 'animalcules' or 'little animals,' i.e. the invisible world of bacteria, single-cell organisms and everything else than can be viewed under hand-crafted lens designed to magnify the unseen.

THE LITTLE ANIMALS is primarily story of Leeuwenhoek's drive to be recognized by the famous Royal Society of London -- but it's also about his friendship with the famous painter Vermeer (based on their actual friendship) and with the mysterious 'Goose Girl,' a fantastical creature out of the Brothers Grimm, who is a survivor of The Plague along with her beautiful geese. The 'Goose Girl' as important to the novel as Leeuwenhoek and layers it with rich details about what is real and what is not in our natural world.

But there's more! There's a wonderfully seedy underside to the mercantile city of Delft -- and the novel includes a few deliciously sexy scenes. And there's more-- an assistant to Leeuwenhoek who draws the 'animalcules' and comes into his own as young man throughout the novel.

Notably, this novel is published by one of my favorite new small presses - Aqueduct Press-- dedicated to feminist science fiction, and in this case focusing on the science and fiction-- along with history, this novel is an absolute winner for lovers of all three.

TGIF.

Caroline

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was adorable, I don’t know how else to say it. It’s been a long time since I read a book with such positive vibes - and it wasn’t twee at all! People die and stuff! But it’s enchanting in the best way.
This book is about Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the first person to see microbes through a (very very tiny!) microscope. He predated the germ theory of disease by a good 200 years, so he obviously didn’t quite understand what it was that he was seeing, but he called them little animals (again, adorable) and spent decades observing them and formulating theories. He was also an acquaintance of Vermeer who features in the story as well.

I’m guessing what landed it in Philip K Dick Award territory is the invented semi-magical child who can “hear” the bacteria, but it really isn’t a fantasy novel at all, it’s just historical fiction, so don’t get confused by the weird sci-fi tag. I wish more historical fiction like this was out there rather than the paper thin costume dramas we usually get - but considering how obscure his book is, maybe I just need to go looking for it with more verve!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me want to join a book club just so that I can recommend this book as our club's next read. There will be a few naysayers in this hypothetical club that weren't as charmed as I was by Tolmie's latest novel, but they will at least agree the historical setting made the book interesting to discuss. More importantly, the majority will do as I did and start recommending it to other friends who will recommend it to other friends and finally set this book on the path to getting the recognition it deserves.

[Denise O’Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it worked on so many levels. First, the setting of 17th century Delft was fascinating in that Tolmie paints a vivid picture of family, class, the economy, gender relations, religion, as well as relations between Protestants and Catholics, the English and the Dutch. The story of Antoni Leeuwenhoek, the “father” of microscopes who revealed a whole new world of microbes or “animalcules” was new to me and so interesting. The character of the goose girl and her geese was novel and beautifully told, adding an element of ancient ways of being at the dawn of the scientific age. The imagined relationship between Antoni and the painter, Vermeer, Delft’s other famous son enriched the story. This book deserves more attention than it has received.

[Mely]

Historical novel about Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovering microorganisms, and his attempts to get the scientific establishment to accept this discovery (and him as a scientist), and also his daily life as a draper and husband and father, and his attempts to create linen with patterns inspired by the microorganisms and sell it in the city. He also hires an autistic goose girl who hears voices that may be madness or may be microorganisms.

The prose is luminous: Van Leeuwenhoek was friends with Vermeer (who shows up in the novel), and it feels like the light of his paintings in textual form: everything is seen very clearly and distinctly, and the light makes it beautiful.

[Pam Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the life of Anton van Leeuwenhoek in the late 17th century and his work grinding lenses for early microscopes that he built. He was the first to see protozoa, bacteria, red blood cells, and spermatozoa. The author creates a "goose girl" and a close relationship with the painter Johannes Vermeer that there is no proof of. Sarah Tolmie spins a wonderful tale, weaving facts and fiction. It is SO good! I read an advance copy but the book is being released April 30, 2019. Nice fictional piece to read with "Eye of the Beholder" by Laura Snyder.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical novel about Anton van Leewenhoek and his microscopes with a few non-factual embellishments.

Amusing...

[Andy H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if there's any way somebody could have told me about the content of this book, before I read it, which would have communicated how much I would enjoy it; the best they could have done might have been just to say, "It's by Sarah Tolmie." She writes about the rituals and chores of cultures strange to her readership and about her characters' encounters with magic and deep weirdness in the same way, with a deeply felt calm specificity. It transfixes me.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story about understanding and acceptance, perception and reality. This book was about so many things, and had such a cast of lovable characters. It was a bonus that this was loosely based on the discovery of microbiology. I hope the author writes another story about the goose girl. This book took me by surprise, I really enjoyed it.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at what it might have felt like to be Antoni van Leeuwenhoek as he entered the world of the very small. Indeed, the book could have been called "Minuscule" - a word that unsurprisingly appears more often in this book than in any 20 others.

It could have been dull, despite the interesting subject, but the goose girl was fascinating, and the uncertain religious participants were good. Not sure why Forsythe's, er, challenge was needed, but we had to suspect all along that the Dekker character was building up to something.

It also gives us a glimpse into how the investors of the era had to gamble on limited information, and expect to lose big sometimes.

An unexpected but not surprising when we think about it a bit is Pierre's last scene, wrapping up his relationship with his father.

Yeah, there's a lot in this book, and that doesnt' really all come clear till the end.

I can see why it was a Canada Reads nominee.

[Swati Shome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, “The “Father of Microbiology”

Often when we read about famous scientists and their long list of accomplishments, we fail to remember that they were human beings, with all the worries, joys, fears, shortcomings, that all humans have.

What was Leeuwenhock thinking as he made his discoveries that changed the world?
How did Leeuwenhoek make peace between the existence of this newly discovered microscopic world and his religious thoughts? What type of societal pressure might he have had?

Art, finances, relationships, emotions, religion, epidemics… many things influence scientists and indirectly their discoveries.

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unusual and delightful little book. Set in Delft, we meet Leeuwenhoek as his curiosity leads him to discover microscopic organisms, and Vermeer as his impulsiveness leads to brilliant art. And then there is the Goose Girl, who hears the voices of things too small to see. This book is hard to put down, and hard to read without a smile on your face. Well drawn and engaging characters. I loved it.

[Warren Dunham · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story of the man who was the first to describe microscopic animals that surrond us. It is greatly dramatized most notably with the addition of goose girl a girl with no name who cares for geese and apparently can under stand animals including the microscopic.

her addition is what makes the story she says whatever is on top of her head and often has incite that helps.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. As a historical novel, it took liberties with the history but also built up a believable historical milieu that left me wanting to learn more about the actual history and the work of Leeuwenhoek. The characters, too, are believable, compelling and very much a part of the world the author has built.

[Matt Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty stunning book.
Vermeer, the discovery of microbes, cloth making, the 16th century sex trade and catholics vs Protestants all threaded through with Grimms goose girl.
Wonderful, I’d read it again and recommend to everyone.

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most or all of the other nominees, this was more historical fiction with a thread of magical realism—not a bad thing, though, as it’s a neat blend of themes of science, curiosity, magic, art, sexuality, and commerce that I very much enjoyed.

[Shelley George · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't read more than 20 pages.
Didn't like the tone of the "little animals " references to bacteria.
Did like the guy.
Didn't care for the goose girl.
I just didn't care.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual combination of historical fiction and fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Bayard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fascinating. Fun wondering what it was like socially and emotionally to stand on the edge of a scientific breakthrough.

[JEFFREY · Rating 5 out of 5]

The goose girl rocks

This book is recommended for those wanting to discover new worlds that we can't yet see but may exist right under our noses.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pure delight! Historical fiction/magical realism, not sure how to characterize it exactly, other than to say that it was fully enchanting. #teamgoosegirl

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairytale-inspired goose girl character was a bold creative embellishment for this historical novel about Van Leeuwenhoek, a creator of early microscopes who saw the first microscopic images ("little animals.") Though creative in concept, it left me craving a well-crafted factual book of information on the topic, which could transport and inspire us just as well.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous work of historical fiction! The book is suffused with rich atmosphere and a wonderful, broad, cast of characters who inhabit mid-17th C Delft. While the story's plot is about Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovering microorganisms and the world of emerging Enlightenment natural history, the book is about so much more than that, particularly about the myriad ways of knowing and understanding that people experience: observation, discussion, experience and belief. In a book about one of the first people to "see" microscopic life, there is so much contemplation of the validity and uniqueness of different perspectives on the world; the rich relationships that are drawn between characters expand this book far beyond what the plot implies. The book is full of humor and kindness and a generosity of spirit that made me not want the story to end. Highly recommended.