The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

By: Tiffany Baker

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Truly Plaice, an overly large and ungainly girl, is the polar opposite of her sister, Serena Jane, the epitome of feminine perfection. With their parents dead, 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, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation.

There, while Serena Jane's beauty proves to be her biggest curse, Truly finds her calling - the ability to heal illness with herbs and naturopathic techniques - and, in reckoning with her demons, the possibility of love in unexpected places.

©2009 Tiffany Baker (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Baker's bangup debut mixes the exuberant eccentricities of John Irving's Garp, Anne Tyler's relationship savvy and the plangent voice of Margaret Atwood....It's got all the earmarks of a hit -- infectious and lovable narrator, a dash of magic, an impressive sweep, and a heartrending but not treacly family drama. It'll be a shame if this doesn't race up the best seller lists." ( Publishers Weekly)
" The Little Giant of Aberdeen County grabs you from its astonishing beginning to its riveting conclusion. Its charms are multitude -- a wholly unique love story, a devastating friendship, a bewitching multi-generational history, all brought to an apex in the larger-than-life personage of Truly, a heroine simultaneously infused with a quiet and dignified grace and peculiar sense of purpose. This dark-yet-rolicking debut is a must-read." (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants)

Truly wonderful!

Most of the audio books produced by Blackstone Audio that I have listened to are great, and this one is no exception. The narration by Carrington MacDuffe wove a tale of life, simple and complex, beautifully sad and engaging. I sometimes had to wonder how a woman so large could keep her chin up, but this is where fiction can overcome life. I am glad I listened, and I am inspired to read the book. I hope the author is working on another piece.

A wonderful surprise awaiting discovery!

I really enjoyed this little morality tale. I don't know if it was intended for the young adult reader or the adult reader, the language leads me to believe it was youth oriented. The reader bothered me some, as she read with a tongue-tied husky voice that I found annoying. The storyline kept me listening despite the reader; who, if she'd lost the strange accent would have been excellent. Listen to the sample, you will hear it, if it doesn't bother you too much--the book is excellent!

enjoyed

Great read, believable, characters , all with human faults; except ending seem contrived and a little unrealistic.

VERY GOOD

I REALLY LIKED THIS STORY A LOT!

Completely different and very entertaining

I really enjoyed this book, because it was so well written and the characters were so well developed. This is a story of someone who has a very hard life, but keeps moving forward and surviving, in spite of continual challenges.

An excellent read!

This is my second time “reading” this novel. I love the story. The narrator was not my favorite. As the characters grew up she still used a kid voice and the men all sounded like red necks. Not New York small town in the 60’s

Good story but doesn't quite meet its potential

The story of a woman growing up in a small town with a form of giant-ism. The writer could have done a better job facing the consequences of rape, runaway wives, suicide, and homosexuality. However given that the book is supposed to be more about an ancestors spell book and a physically unconventional woman learning to love herself, its a good listen. I think if we took every opportunity to make hard life lessons into actual lessons, story telling would be considered education not entertainment, and this book is entertaining in a gentle, slow summer breeze kind of way. Easy listening for sure.

Little giant big personality

I like this book even when parts were slow I felt I knew her. Character development is surpburb in this book the performance by Carrington Macduffie is right on but I felt more personality in each person voicing would have bought forth a great performance. Sometimes I felt like the characters were so well written but it got lost without different voices. In saying that this was still a very good read and I recommend it

Not EVERYTHING is like something else...

The author uses similes like a dental hygenist uses floss. The exessive use of imagery grated on my nerves like a old rusty gate in a strong southerly wind... I mean really. Sometimes things are just what they are. Plus, she murders a cat. Not cool.

Truly...not deeply

This is subpar of an audiobook. I listen to 2-3 audiobooks a month for the past 3 years, and I must say this narrator was sub-average. The book was sub-average. Moderation and feeling of voice was absent. Plus, there were editing errors in the book where you actually hear the narrator mess up then correct herself. Not professional. This happens 3-4 times but enough to disrupt what flow the listener was trying to get in rhythm with. I was determined to get through the book...predictable, Choose another.