Stack of Spines

Jump to Comments

Truly Plaice is larger than life, and so is her omniscience in The Little Giant of Aberdeen County.  Told with whimsy, mystery, and a touch of fantasy, Tiffany Baker ensured I stayed up late, reading with one hand while I held my eye (just one) open with the other.

I love a book that makes me wonder just where it is going and then once I anticipate a general direction, I can’t wait to find out the details while an inevitable loop develops.  The word delightful keeps coming to mind as I attempt at describing this snapshot at Truly’s life.

There are so many great quotations about life and choices and one’s internal dialogue:

So often, we believe we are alone in the privacy of our fantasies, but that is a delusion as well — and perhaps the most dangerous kind.  For in letting ourselves forget about the common threads of our innermost wishes, we erode our foundations and lose the keystone of our souls.

And then, what happens when Truly attempts to deal with her family that doesn’t quite understand or appreciate her?

The thing about secrets is that they multiply.  Once you have one under your belt, it’s easy to add a couple more.

Baker offers a refreshing commentary about how individuals treat those less privileged than themselves, and then what happens when the tables are turned.  Is a lifetime of ridicule able to be overcome and can one look past it all and continue to treat those now unfortunate souls as you’d wish to be treated, or is opportunistic revenge sweet?

Truly, (pun intended) I’m not sure I can articulate what a nice change of pace this novel was for me.  After trudging through We Were the Mulvaneys over two weeks, an eternity in book time for me, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County was effortless.  I’d love to read it again in a few weeks because I’m sure I missed many of the nuances.