The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
Once upon a time, there were two sisters. The oldest was so beautiful that her mother used to stay up late at nights, embroidering roses and ladybugs on her clothes and decorating her daughter 鈥渓ike a cake.鈥�
When the youngest was born, the entire town camped out in front of her parents鈥� house, taking bets on how big the baby would be.
Tiffany Baker doesn鈥檛 start her story with the words 鈥渙nce upon a time,鈥� but she easily could have. Her debut novel, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County spins an American fairy tale that鈥檚 part Alice Hoffman, part Brothers Grimm. The wolf, the princess, the dead mother, the giant, the witch 鈥� all are present.
There鈥檚 even a prince in disguise.
Baker, like Gregory Maguire of 鈥淲icked,鈥� has the wit to realize that the witch鈥檚 story is more interesting than the princess鈥檚. There are actually two in 鈥淭he Little Giant of Aberdeen County鈥�: Tabitha Dyerson, who was the town鈥檚 healer before the first doctor came loping into town after the Civil War; and Truly, the town鈥檚 鈥渓ittle giant鈥� and the first person to unlock the secret of where Tabitha hid her 鈥渟pells.鈥�
鈥淎fter all, spinsters have always been a social problem all up and down history, and spinsters with spells are even more unappealing,鈥� Truly tells the reader as she recounts the history of Tabitha鈥檚 decision to marry that first doctor, Robert Morgan, whose descendants still bear his name and profession.
鈥淭he fairy child and the ugly duckling,鈥� as Truly calls herself and her older sister, are orphaned in short order, in true fairy-tale tradition. Truly鈥檚 mother dies during her birth 鈥� due not to Truly鈥檚 size, as her dad and the rest of the town believe, but to cancer.
After their dad succumbs to alcoholism, 鈥渟atiny鈥� Serena Jane is fussed over by the preacher鈥檚 wife, while ungainly Truly is sent to live at the broken-down farm of Tabitha鈥檚 luckless descendants, who have a daughter her age.
From a distance, Truly watches as Serena Jane is pursued by the fifth Robert Morgan, 鈥渨ith his long, lupine teeth.鈥�
鈥淩obert Morgan never liked a thing in his life unless he got to take the first bite out of it, and he never let a thing go, either, until it was chewed all the way down to skin and bone,鈥� the grown-up Truly recounts. 鈥淓ven his narrow, prowling walk told you he was a man of limitless appetite 鈥� hungry all the time and yet never filled all the way up.鈥�
Unfortunately, princesses in fairy tales are rarely taught how to battle monsters, and Serena Jane is no exception. It falls to Truly, now larger than most men and still growing, to slay the wolf.
Truly鈥檚 teacher is the first one to call her a giant, on Truly鈥檚 first day of kindergarten.
鈥淚t was a word I鈥檇 heard before in Brenda Dyerson鈥檚 fairy stories, wherein magic stalks grew out of regular dried beans, ordinary geese laid jewel-encrusted eggs, and enchanted harps sung of their own accord,鈥� Truly says of her 5-year-old self. 鈥淭o me, it was a word that swirled with extraordinary promises of castle spires and treasure chests. That鈥檚 not how the teacher said it, though. She spat the word through the front of her teeth, as if she were expelling used toothpaste.鈥�
Like most fairy tales, this one has some dark undertones. Truly ends up using what she learns from Tabitha鈥檚 spells to help two of Aberdeen鈥檚 terminal patients end their lives. The fact that both of these people were cruel and unkind to her leaves a reader a bit squirmy.
It鈥檚 as if Baker were trying to give Truly revenge without tainting her heroine status, and the result is emotionally clunky.
There are a few other niggling problems: A plotline that turns Truly into a selfless Cinderella continues on for longer than common sense would warrant, and her foster sister never quite gets her due as a character.
But if the ending of 鈥淭he Little Giant of Aberdeen County鈥� doesn鈥檛 quite live up to the promise of its early pages, that鈥檚 because those first chapters are so enchanting. Baker has crafted a book big enough to hold her title character, and few readers would be churlish enough to begrudge Truly a happily-ever-after.
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
