THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE LITTLE GIANT
OF ABERDEEN COUNTY
BY TIFFANY BAKER

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the whole town of Aberdeen lined up to bet on the weight of the baby that 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 subsequent death left Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the town's prodigal May Queen and Truly to eke out an existence with a rattletrap, outcast family on its rundown farm.

While Truly's remarkable size makes her the subject of constant curiosity and humiliation by her peers, Serena Jane's beauty proves to be both her biggest blessing and her worst curse, for it targets her as the obsession of Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans, Aberdeen's family doctors for generations. When Bob Bob does the unthinkable to claim Serena Jane, his actions change the destiny of all Aberdeen County.

In the end, Truly is forced to face her own larger-than-life demons, redefine mercy, and consider the possibility that love cannot be ordered to size.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tiffany Baker lives in Tiburon, California with her husband and three children. This is her first novel. If you'd like to read more about Tiffany Baker, I strongly recommend you go to her website to see what she cleverly wrote about herself and entitled it "Tiffany Baker's Recipe for a Writing Life". Click here to read that.

MY REVIEW:

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 whiz 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 GIGANTIC 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!

GIVEAWAY

I AM THRILLED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY
TO INTRODUCE THIS BOOK TO MY READERS!
THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABDERDEEN COUNTY
IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE LAST
YEAR AND IS NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK
EDITION AND HERE IS A CHANCE FOR YOU
TO MEET TRULY AND READ HER STORY.!

THANKS TO JESSICA AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT NEWMAN COMMUNICATIONS, I HAVE
ONE COPY OF THIS FABULOUS BOOK
TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY WINNER!


--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY


HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU READ ABOVE IN THE DESCRIPTION OR REVIEW THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO TIFFANY BAKER'S WEBSITE HERE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU FOUND THERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON THE COVER OF THIS NOVEL AND HOW YOU THINK IT MAY RELATE, OR NOT, TO THE STORY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ANY OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY ON MY BLOG YOU HAVE ENTERED AND WHICH ONE IT IS. YOU MAY COMMENT AND GAIN ENTRIES FOR EACH OTHER GIVEAWAY YOU ENTERED IF YOU ENTER EACH ONE SEPARATELY.

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK FOR ME TO FOLLOW. IF YOU DO BOTH, COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR THE BONUS ENTRIES.

BONUS ENTRIES COMING SOON: WATCH FOR MY NEW INTERVIEW WITH TIFFANY BAKER COMING SOON TO SEE WHAT SHE IS DOING NOW AND WHAT HER NEXT BOOK MIGHT BE AND WHEN IT WILL BE OUT. YOU WILL GAIN BONUS ENTRIES FOR COMMENTING ON THAT POST SO BE WATCHING!

GIVEAWAY ENDS
6 PM, EST, MAY 13!