The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

From the Publisher

When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the town of Aberdeen joined together in betting how recordbreakingly huge the baby boy would ultimately be. The girl who proved to be Truly paid 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 polar opposite sister Serena Jane, the epitome of femine perfection. When he, too, relinquished his increasingly tenuous grip on life, Truly and Serena Jane are separated--Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the future May Queen and Truly to live on the outskirts of town on the farm of the town sadsack, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation at the hands of her peers.

Serena Jane's beauty proves to be her greatest blessing and her biggest curse, for it makes her the obsession of classmate Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans who have been doctors in Aberdeen for generations. Though they have long been the pillars of the community, the earliest Robert Morgan married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson, and the location of her fabled shadow book--containing mysterious secrets for healing and darker powers--has been the subject of town gossip ever since. Bob Bob Morgan, one of Truly's biggest tormentors, does the unthinkable to claim the prize of Serena Jane, and changes the destiny of all Aberdeen from there on.

When Serena Jane flees town and a loveless marriage to Bob Bob, it is Truly who must become the woman of a house that she did not choose and mother to her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie. Truly's brother-in-law is relentless and brutal; he criticizes her physique and the limitations of her health as aresult, and degrades her more than any one human could bear. It is only when Truly finds her calling--the ability to heal illness with herbs and naturopathic techniques--hidden within the folds of Robert Morgan's family quilt, that she begins to regain control over her life and herself. Unearthed family secrets, however, will lead to the kind of betrayal that eventually break the Morgan family apart forever, but Truly's reckoning with her own demons allows for both an uprooting of Aberdeen County, and the possibility of love in unexpected places.

The Washington Post - Ron Charles

Baker knows how to spin an alluring plot, and she tells this emotional story in a lush voice that's spiked with just a taste of self-pity. She has a good sense of the dark comedy of melodrama, too, even if Truly's words of wisdom are sometimes a little too—forgive me—heavy-handed: "My body," Truly tells us, "sponged up the world's pain like bread in the bottom of a gravy tray." Yes, that's bad, but it's deliciously bad, like a large bag of gothic potato chips, and once you start, you just can't stop.

Publishers Weekly

Carrington MacDuffie brings Baker's sprawling debut title to life with a thorough attention to detail and excellent ability to convey the rustic local color of rural upstate New York without falling into stock caricatures. Protagonist Truly Plaice-whose size and stature isolate her from daily social life in the provincial community-never loses her grit and determination in spite of all the heartache she endures. MacDuffie's talent shines in her portrayal of Truly's childhood friend Amelia Dyerson, whose mute interactions with the outside world belie her scrappy survival skills and emotional depth. MacDuffie also brings skill and insight to the male figures, particularly Truly's menacing brother-in-law, Doctor "Bob-Bob" Morgan. The transitions make for a sometimes challenging listening experience, but MacDuffie does justice to the ambitious project. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 8). (Feb.)

Carol Stern - Library Journal

Baker's quickly paced first novel follows the painfully gloomy journey of plus-sized protagonist Truly, whose life is filled with tragedy, difficulties, and sorrow as well as-eventually-joy and victory. The characters are well developed, quirky, and somewhat interesting, though the story is a little predictable. Carrington MacDuffie (Suddenly) engagingly voices Truly, whose observations on her life and the lives of those around her allow listeners to understand her thought processes. Purchase upon request. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com; the Grand Central hc received a starred review, LJ10/15/08.-Ed.]

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