Novels Now

You are browsing the archives of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County.

My father stepped back and examined me. Whereas Serena Jane possessed the limbs and features of a vain little pixie, my physiognomy brought to mind the heaviest and roundest of objects - a cannonball, perhaps. Something impervious to smashes and collisions. Since I began walking at the unprecedented age of seven months, I had fallen down the stairs twice, plunged unharmed into the flower beds from the front porch, and survived being pushed into oncoming traffic by Serena Jane in our rusted red wagon. - from The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, page 32 -

Truly Plaice’s birth brings out the betting folks of Aberdeen County who wonder how large a baby must be to stretch a mother to such huge proportions. But Truly’s birth is also marked by the death of her mother and the beginning of her father’s descent into alcoholism. Her size seems all the more incredulous when she stands next to her beautiful and petite sister Serena Jane. When the girls’ father dies, Serena Jane is taken in by a wealthy couple and Truly is dropped off at the deteriorating farm of a local family. From this point on, Truly can not help but view herself as less worthy than her sister whose beauty seems to enchant the people of Aberdeen County and attracts Bob Bob Morgan’s attentions. All is not what it seems on the surface, however. As Truly grows more enormous and matures from a young girl into a woman, she must rethink the idea of beauty and come to terms with the pain and anger of her size. Redemption for Truly lies in a series of moral decisions and her ability to forgive those who have wounded her the most.

Tiffany Baker’s debut novel is set in the fictional, rural town of Aberdeen - a place where time seems to stand still.

Its sidewalks had weedy cracks that gaped bigger every winter. The bells at the firehouse sometimes locked when the weather was damp, and the newspaper had quit printing its Saturday edition. There was a recreational softball team, a ladies’ gardening committee, and a brick library, but the team ever won, the collective age of the gardening committee was four hundred and seven, and the print in half the books in the library was so faded and smeared, it was no longer legible. - from The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, page 49 -

The characters who people Aberdeen are quirky, flawed and carry secrets passed from one generation to the next. The novel’s protagonist (Truly) is not wholly likable and yet the reader feels compelled to hear her story and understand her. Baker asks the most basic of questions in her novel: What defines who we become? How important is appearance when we determine a person’s beauty? Can forgiveness redeem us?

Baker captures the essence of small town life - the gossip, the secrets, the relationships and expectations which define each person’s role within the constraints of a community.

The novel is not without its weaknesses - at times situations seem contrived or unbelievable (such as the complete lack of investigation into the disappearance of Serena Jane, and the extent of the cruelty toward a very young Truly). Despite these faults, Baker’s writing is infused with a dark humor and deep insight into what motivates her characters. And it is these qualities which keeps the reader turning the pages.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is not a light read - it is disturbing at times - and some readers may be dismayed at the moral decisions of the protagonist. But for those readers who enjoy character driven books which take them to a new level of understanding, this one is worth the read.

From wikipedia:

As a medical term, gigantism can refer to “pituitary gigantism”, which is due to prepubertal growth hormone excess. This is sometimes equated with acromegaly, but more precisely, an excess of growth hormone leads to “pituitary gigantism” (vertical growth) if the epiphyseal plates have not yet closed, but it leads to “acromegaly” (lateral growth) if they have closed.

Even before I emerged from my mother’s womb in 1953, people began warning my mother that the infant she carried was going to be huge.

I really enjoyed this debut novel — particularly the first 3/4 of it. Tiffany Baker has created a very extraordinary character in Truly Plaice. First called a ‘little giant’ by her teacher Miss Sparrow, Truly is the exact opposite of her very petite, pretty, and perfect sister Serena Jane. Teased and humiliated by her classmates and community, Truly actually copes fairly well with her large size. Her genetics have treated Truly unfairly, but there are some positives in her life as well. She has the love of three very special people in her life, and she is thus able to tune out the mean-spirited ones who torment her. Not afraid of hard work either, Truly only sometimes feels sorry for herself and tries to make the best of every situation she’s in. (I always think it’s best not to know too many plot points before reading a book so I’ll stop there to avoid spoilers.)

The book covers the first 35-40 or so years of Truly’s life, and as said previously, I very much enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book. I actually read through the first part very quickly, but I did feel that the last 1/4 of the novel dragged a bit. There are also some ethical decisions made by the characters that are quite controversial, and I’m not quite sure how I stand on those issues myself so my thoughts about the ending are mixed. However, I’ll definitely be looking out for Tiffany Baker’s next book. She is a promising new novelist who knows how to craft unique characters and a unique story.

A special thanks goes to Hachette Book Group for sending me this book for review. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is being released today (January 8th).

2009, 341 pp.

4/5