The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
448 pages
Published July 2011 by Random House Publishing
Source: the publisher

Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump was born on Halloween in 1841 to a farm family in Massachusetts, a perfectly ordinary baby just as her three siblings had been. For a year, she grew normally. Then, almost without being noticed by her busy parents, she simply stopped growing. Lavinia, or Vinnie as she was known by family and friends, reached her peak height of 32 inches not long afterward. Her family was never quite sure what to make of her. She was sometimes an embarrassment to her siblings and always a concern to her mother who found danger lurking everywhere for her tiny daughter.

Vinnie, unlike her even smaller younger sister, Minnie, was much less concerned with what she should be afraid of as she was with what she wanted to be able to do. When the local school board offered her a teaching position when she was only sixteen, she jumped at the chance to be able to become somewhat independent of her family. When, less than a year later, Colonel John Wood walked into the family home offering Vinnie an even bigger opportunity. Claiming to be a distant cousin, Wood convinced the family that he could offer Vinnie the chance to travel the country, performing with his troupe, a troupe he claimed was akin to the world-famous acts shown by P.T. Barnum. Over her family's objections, Vinnie jumped at the chance.

Once on Wood's boat, Vinnie quickly discovered that life was not going to be quite what Wood had portrayed. Life on board was sometimes dangerous and never more dangerous than being around Wood soon became for Vinnie. But she had made many friends on the boat, particularly the giantess, Sylvia, who watched over her as if Vinnie were her sole responsibility.

When the Civil War broke out, the troupe found themselves without jobs and Vinnie was forced to return home. As much as she had missed her family and the comforts of home, Vinnie found herself missing the excitement of life away from home. Two years after she returned, she used the fame that she had found on the tour to attract the attention of P.T. Barnum himself.

Barnum was enchanted by Vinnie, less for the fact that she was a perfectly formed miniature woman, as he was by the fact of her intelligence and quick wit, and went about making her the sensation of the world, to much success. In 1863, despite not being in love with him, Vinnie married General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) in the wedding of the century. It was both Barnum and Vinnie's greatest triumph. She became even more famous and traveled the world, meeting royalty and presidents. But her fame came with a price. She would never find true love and she would no longer be able to protect Minnie from the glare of the public spotlight.

I've been anxiously waiting for The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb since I heard Melonie Benjamin talk about it at the Omaha Lit Fest last fall so I jumped at the chance to read and review it. I'm thrilled to be able to report that this book did not disappoint. Benjamin once again takes a well known but little written about woman from history and crafts a novel about what might have been, perfectly capturing the time period in which the story is set. In Vinnie she has also captured a voice which is filled with longing, spunk, and love and fully developed her into a person who is much more than just a public figure. I was thoroughly charmed by Benjamin's story; she has managed to give the reader a full range of emotions, to show the reader both the seedy underbelly of life in the mid-19th century and the over-the-top lifestyle of the well-to-do, and give us a love story on so many levels.

Fairy Tale Fridays - What's New In Fairy Tales

In my last Fairy Tale Fridays, I focused on Giambattista Basile, one of the first people to commit fairy tales to paper. This week, I wanted to focus on what's happening with fairy tales more recently.

Kate Bernheimer (who I've raved about endlessly when talking about Omaha Lit Fest specifically and fairy tales in general) recently released the third in a trilogy of novels about the Gold sister. In March, The Complete Tales of Lucy Gold was published by FC2 completing the trilogy started in 2001 with The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold and continued in 2006 with The Complete Tales of Merry Gold. HTML Giant has an in-depth (3000 words in-depth!) review of the trilogy.

Previously I mentioned SurLaLune as a great source of annontated fairy tales. There is now a blog associated with the site as well. From there I see that there is not just one but four movies in the works Snow White, three of which are a trilogy starring Kristin Stewart of Twilight fame. The other is a Julia Robert's project. A Beauty & The Beast movie adaptation in the works, starring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame, is being pulled together by Guillermo del Toro among others. All of those, in conjunction with the upcoming ABC t.v. series Once Upon A Time appear to mean that I'll be watching fairy tales almost as often as I'm reading them.

New sites I found while doing research on the internet (okay, playing), are Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine and on dictionary.com fairytale flashcards and a quiz.  Now I'm off to go play (er, research) some more. Can't wait to see what else is out there is discover!

Exposure by Therese Fowler

Exposure by Therese Fowler
384 pages
Published May 2011
Source: the publisher

Eighteen-year-old Anthony Winter and seventeen-year-old Amelia Wilkes are in love and looking forward to a future together. The plan for the two high-school seniors, stars of the high school drama department, is to study theater in New York with Broadway as their ultimate goal.  Life should be perfect, shouldn't it?

There's just one problem - Amelia's father. Harlan Wilkes is a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings to own a string of high-end automotive dealerships. He's given Amelia every advantage in life and he's not about to stand by and watch her throw it all away. Up until recently, Amelia has always done everything Harlan expected of her without question. But Amelia knows that Harlan won't approved of her college plans and he certainly won't approve of Anthony (son of the art teacher in the private school the kids attend, Anthony for free because of his mother). So she' s hidden both her plans and her relationship from her father.

Then one day Amelia and Anthony's world comes crashing down on their heads when Harlan finds some naked pictures of Anthony on Amelia's computer. Having no idea that the two are in a relationship, Harlan jumps to the conclusion that Anthony is some kind of pervert and calls the police. Nothing, not even the truth, will prevent Harlan from punishing Anthony and an eager district attorney is more than willing to help even if it means ruining lives.

Over and over again, the characters in Exposure wonder why the law is choosing to make an example of two young people when so many other young people are doing the same thing. And that's just what I was wondering as well; would any local authority so aggressively go after a teenager for naked pictures on his girlfriend's computer? Maybe. In the right small town. If you had the right person, looking to climb the political ladder. Then I began to wonder, would a school full of young people really turn on a young man for sending those pictures as did the young people in this book? Undoubtedly some would. I couldn't help but think, though, that even more wouldn't think of it as any big deal. Even more, I began to wonder if the legal maneuverings in this book would/could really happen. And I began to wonder what I would do if the same thing happened to my son. How would I react? How would I find the wherewithal to pay for all of the legal fees? Clearly, Exposure got me thinking.

In the end, though, it was all just a bit too much for me. Everything that could go wrong, did; every conceivable charge that might be drummed up, was. There was just so much young love angst. And the ending just did not work for me. As the mother of a teenagers, Exposure reinforced my belief that all of these wonderful electronic devices can be dangerous in the hands of young people whose hormones are in overdrive. Even if I didn't necessarily believe that a person would be charged with all of the counts that came up in the book, I have to admit that it made me worry. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have another talk with my kids.

Tobacco Wars by Paul Seesequasis

Tobacco Wars by Paul Seesequasis
113 pages
Published October 2010 by Quattro Books
Source: the publisher and TLC Book Tours

In Tobacco Wars, Paul Seesequasis gives the reader a modern retelling of the Native American story of creation  (here a Bear Woman is responsible for all creation) and a work of historical fiction featuring Pocahontas and the British playwright Ben Jonson. Sound like an unusual story? You haven't heard the half of it.

When I say "modern retelling," I'm talking about a retelling that pushes the boundaries so far that Seesequasis feels the need to suggest in his acknowledgments that he may have "gone to places that they [his family elders] would not consider proper." The rivers and oceans are created when Bear Woman urinates; the sun is a ball of her phlegm; islands are mounds of her feces. The creation of the animals? Let's just say that occurs as the result of something your parents didn't tell you about until they thought you were old enough to hear it. And Seesequasis is quite vivid in his descriptions. After the first few pages of the book, I told my husband I felt like I was reading bear porn. Which, perhaps, brings me to the point. Much of this happens in the first few pages. I'm left wondering if Seesequasis' intention was to immediately shock his readers. To appear so avante garde that if, in the end, you feel like you just didn't get his point, he can justify it by suggesting that you had tuned out early.

The Pocohantas parts of the story are, by and large, much less graphic. Seesequasis, as a Native American, gives a unique feel to one of the most famous Native American's journey from "the Americas" to the court of England and back again. I certainly got what felt like a very real impression of what life must have been like on the streets of England at that time, gritty and dirty. My problem with these parts of the book was not so much what Seesequasis included but, rather, what he left out. In the end, I felt like there should have been more to the story; so few pages encompassing so many years and events.

I made the mistake of reading a few reviews of this before I even started the book, something I very rarely do and I will admit to being somewhat prejudiced going into the book. In the end I feel like I did read the book with an open mind (once I got past the bear porn) and believe I understand the point Seesequasis was trying to make. I did appreciate the idea of a "mother" of creation watching as the beautiful world she has created become overgrown with people who have no appreciation for its wonders. By and large, I enjoyed the story of Pocahantas and came away with the impression that Seesequasis certainly has talent. Sadly, I can't say that the book worked for me as a whole. The graphic descriptions did little more than turn me off to the book and I'm not sure that the two stories ever came together enough to feel like anything more than two entirely different stories.


Thanks to TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity, once again, to push my own boundaries with this one! For other opinions about this book, check out the full tour.

Paul Seesequasis is a writer and a journalist. He was the founding editor of the award-winning Aboriginal Voices magazine, and the recipient of a MacLean-Hunter journalist award. His short stories and feature writings have been published in Canada and abroad. Tobacco Wars is his first novella.

Sunday Salon - July 24

Yet another long and busy week at work. Yet another slow reading week. So many nights when I crawl into bed to read, I'm only a few pages in before it's time for lights out. Fortunately my review commitment for this week, Tobacco Wars, was a quick read.

I spent yesterday moving my oldest son into a new apartment. Too hot, too many steps, and my legs were shot but they have such a nice place now. Their boxes of books were sure heavy but I'm delighted that both of them love to read so much. Last year when they moved into their first apartment, I was mortified and I've spent the entire year worrying about them. Why doesn't anyone tell you before you have children that you will never stop worrying about them?

Am I the last person to hear about the new series ABC has coming this fall called "Once Upon A Time?" Here's the synopsis:

"The series is loosely inspired by the classic fairy tale stories except set in the present day, hence the series name. The stories hold a key to the mystery that will draw a bail bonds collector and the son that she gave up for adoption 10 years earlier to a New England town called Storybrooke, Maine. This town is actually a parallel world in which fairy tale characters look like normal people and don't remember their true identities or anything about their true lives."

I think this fairy tale fan has just discovered a t.v. show that really will be "must-see" t.v. You won't mind if every Fairy Tale Friday is just a recap of this week's episode, will you?

 I'm starting The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb this week by Melanie Benjamin. I've been looking forward to this one since hearing Benjamin talk about it last fall at the Omaha Lit Fest. What are you reading this week?

Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz

Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz
304 pages
Published July 2011 by Random House Publishing House
Source: the publisher and TLC Book Tours

First, a confession: I have not finished this book. I completely forgot about my tour date for this one and only just started the book a couple of days ago. That being said, I will, very likely finish it later today because Schwartz has completely sucked me into the story.

A dozen years ago Dwight Arno, killed a young boy in a hit-and-run car accident. After a prison term, his life as a lawyer, husband and father was over and he escaped across the country to California where he became the manager of a sporting goods store, keeping his past hidden from everyone in his new life. As the blurb on the book says he has "started over without exactly moving on." What he has done and the hurt it caused everyone in his life is never far from his mind.

Then one evening Dwight returns home from work to find Sam, his 22-year-old estranged son, sitting in his living room. Sam has fled home after getting in a bar fight in which he hit a guy with a baseball bat. Granted, he was assaulted first. But Sam is horrified to realize just how good it felt to release all of that anger. Wanting to escape, Sam has fled to the last place anyone would think to look for him, the home of the father he hasn't seen in ten years.

As Dwight and Sam come to know each other again and face their own natures, they also impact the women in their lives: ex-wife, lovers, mother.

Told in alternating points of view between many of the characters in the book and in both first- (Dwight) and third-person (all of the other characters), this book moves along rapidly. As it did when I read his The Commoner, Schwartz's beautiful writing is making me want to slow down and savor the book while the story itself is compelling me forward.

"And so it goes; the duffel switching hand to hand, the mind clear but seeing backward, the angled sun anointing him like a troubled pilgrim who's journeyed to the far edge of the continent in search of a blessing that he doesn't believe in but can't stop looking for."

I can't wait to see where Schwartz will ultimately take these characters who have come to life with such great emotional depth.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour!  I'm eager now to read Reservation Road, the book that precedes this one in which readers are introduced to Dwight Arno. Learn more about Schwartz on his website or check out his Facebook page.

Persepolis and the Omaha Bookworms

Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
160 pages
Published June 2004 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Source: I bought this to read with the Omaha Bookworms

Satrapi was ten years old when, in 1979, Iran began to experience a period of revolution against the then-Shah. Persepolis chronicles the revolution through the eyes of a young girl in graphic novel form. Satrapi, whose parents initially demonstrated in favor of the overthrow of the Shah, chronicles life as her parents go from hopeful to fearful, as she herself experiences ever changing feelings about her country, and as the country becomes a more and more dangerous place to live.

Linda recommended this one to the Bookworms and I thought it would make a perfect summer read since it would be a quick read being a graphic novel. It was indeed a quick read but only partially because it was a graphic novel. The truth is that I would have read this book in one night even if it had been twice as long. Satrapi does a marvelous job of, literally, illustrating the full range of emotions Satrapi and her family went through from the start of the revolution until the day her parents put her on an airplane bound for Austria. Her family didn't shy away from telling her the truth of what was happening and Satrapi doesn't shy away from showing her readers the full horror of living through that time in Iran. She skillfully balances that with a moving portrait of what it was like to be a citizen of Iran during the revolution and war with Iraq.

All of the Bookworms really liked Persepolis and several of us are planning on reading Satrapi's followup. Well, done, Linda! Not only did you pick a book that I really enjoyed but you found that book that has changed my mind about graphic novels.