The Little Giant of Aberdeen County in Bloggers Unite™

Feb 22, 2009 Karen rated it it was amazing

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 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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Jan 23, 2009 Marta hoelscher rated it it was amazing

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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Jan 25, 2016 Steve Lindahl rated it really liked it

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is a beautifully written novel about a subject that has been covered very often, but one that she handles in an interesting and unique way. It's about people coming to terms with who they are and living their lives to the fullest. The little giant, Truly Plaice, is one of those people. The book is written from her point of view, so we get to understand her issues more than the problems of the others. But there are also a gay man who has an authoritarian father ...more

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Nov 11, 2008 Bobbie Crawford rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-that-i-own, all-reviews, fiction-reviews

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
Written By: Tiffany Baker
Published By: Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group USA, New York, 2009, First Edition, 352 pages, hardcover
ISBN 978-0446194204
(To Be Released, January 2009)

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is an interesting and unique novel. When I first saw the cover of this book, I just had to read it! At first this story seemed a little odd, yet it grabbed my attention and has a fresh and invigorating plot. The characters ar ...more

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Oct 14, 2008 Jennifer Defoy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bostick-review-books, 2010-reads

There was so much about this one that I loved. The writing was beautiful, the characters were very well developed, and the story was captivating. I had actually been eying this one for a while and never got around to it. But I'm glad that I was finally given the chance to read it.

There's so many great things about this book that in trying to write this review I don't really know where to start. The main character is so great. Truly's life is so extraordinary, and yet so simple. The events that ...more

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Nov 05, 2008 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, 2008, arcs

Full review as seen on
This book is full of difficult moral questions, and the characters make really interesting decisions. Baker touches on unrequited love, grief, suicide, rape, betrayal, homosexuality, and mercy killing. But I never felt overloaded or preached to. The characters (unfortunately for them) just encountered all these things over the course of the book. The ending was satisfying, although somewhat sad and maybe ever so slightly predictable. ...more

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