Tiffany BakerCritiques

I found it hard to put this book down. I loved the main character. I loved how the story was told, how it was written, everything about the book. An excellent novel.

Stories of intricate family relationships and secrets are usually very interesting to me, but the pacing dragged so much at times that my attention frequently lagged. Overall, a pretty good story, with fairly complex personalities and an interesting setting. The male characters were the main weakness - the author mostly dwelled on the female characters, so the guys were mostly in place as two dimensional plot drivers.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Overdrive. Angela Brazil's narration was serviceable, but her tendency to care-full-y e-nun-ci-ate her words was distracting.

This story is simply stunning. Baker has crafted one of the most interesting stories or friendship, finding oneself, and acceptance I have ever read. Her literary talent is stunning. Her words and worlds will live on in my mind. Please read this novel, or listen to the Blackstone Audio version narrated sublimely by Carrington MacDuffie.

A delightful well written story about self awareness relationships and a little magic. I love fiction about small town America and this is one of the better one's I have read. The characters are complex and well developed and the story just grabs you from the first page. I read it very quickly!

Tiffany Baker writes so beautifully, she could write a book in which nothing happened and I would still read it.

Really enjoyed this book, engaging characters and I loved the idea of the quilt.

It was fun to read a book with a familiar, Cape Cod setting. The writing is lovely, and the characters are well developed. I just didn't find any of them loveable. The ending seemed rushed, and I was left unsatisfied that the skeletons stayed locked in the closet (trying to say something that isn't a spoiler).

2.5 So. much. narration. This could have been half the length and would've been a more compelling book. It has some cool magic-y elements and girl power and superstitious Catholic practices (Our Lady of the Salt) kind of like Secret Life of Bees, but goes overboard on description and covering the length of time that the story spans. Except the last 2 chapters which fast-forward about 18 years. The Gilly sisters, Jo and Claire were raised on the salt marsh outside the town of Prospect on Cape Cod. The marsh is not kind to men/boys - a family curse of some kind, so it is just the girls and their hard-working, no-nonsense mother. The salt has some magical properties and the town seems to have a love/hate relationship as they believe their fate is tied to it. The nemesis to the Gilly girls is the Turner family, handsome Whit who is Jo's age and his spiteful mother, Ida. But there are secrets there. Eventually, over a lot of time (and narration) Claire and Whit marry after her true love Ethan becomes a priest. Whit believes he can finally own the marsh and dominate the town, but it doesn't work out that way. Instead Claire and Jo have a falling out and work against each other. All this history comes to light mostly through the lens of newcomers teenage Dee and her jerk of a father Cut. They open a diner in town and don't get any customers until they start serving Gilly salt. Dee is only 17 and needy and curious so gets a little snoopy about the Gilly sisters and all the town dynamics. She also gets involved with Whit which sets a whole other layer of story in motion. It's one of those saga books, but I felt like it didn't need to be.

Two sisters could not be more different! Jo and Claire are more than a few years apart, they are as different as day and night. Jo is the older, mature, dark haired one. She has undertaken being a mini-mommy with her brother and sister as well as takes it upon herself to give it her all when helping their mother work their salt farm. Day in and day out. Learning the tricks of reading the weather and land.

Claire wants nothing to do with the salt farm, being poor and dirty. She has the ivory skin, and blazing read hair- just like her mother. She dreams about the day she will be able to escape and live a life of luxury where she has clean new clothing, and her hands are not blistered from having work to hope you have enough to food to put on the table.

No one really knows the truth about the salt farm and why or how it really can alter your life, the town just knows to accept it and they will have good luck and fortune. Rumor is the Gilly Girls are witches, and they are the ones who actually control things with the salt, but there is no proof of that rampant rumor.

As the girls grow older, love blossoms as it always does between teens and Claire, then gets her heart broken when the love of her life tells her he is going to be become a minister and he leaves soon. She is so upset that does the one thing that Jo always yells at her for, and this time there are consequences that cannot change the outcome of that match.

Claire runs off and marries a different, unexpected bachelor. By doing this, she commits the ultimate betrayal against her mother and sister, Jo. As the Gilly family has a history with the Turners and the whole town knows that the Turners have always been out to get their hands on the Gilly farm. Claire becomes a different person, and lives the life she always dreamed of, but it’s not as good as she thought and she does everything in her power to remove the salt from the town.

She wants every reminder of her homestead erased. Soon people are fearful of her, now being the Turner matron and does as she asks. They stop carrying the Gilly’s salt and just as they’ve believed things start going downhill. Their mother dies and then Jo is left to fend all on her own on the farm. How will she keep the place going, and bring in enough to sustain the payments, as Claire has gotten almost everyone to stop buying the salt.

Whit Turner isn’t who Claire thought he was, and she realizes that she made have made a grave mistake marrying him. She finds an earning in his car, and it is not hers. Before she has time, to do some sleuthing of her own, she finds out who this other woman is and just how much of a mess Whit has made. But an incident causes Claire to run back to her childhood home, and reconnect with Jo.

Can the two sisters mend their past, and bring the Gilly Salt farm back to life? Can Claire really redeem herself, with everything she has done in her life or have they cursed themselves with the salt? What about Jo, and the secret that she has harbored for years? The real reason the Turners and Gilly’s have hated each other.

This was a really good read, if you are wanting an easy family drama read. I really enjoyed the storyline, along with the few twists the author through in there. I am also going to look into her other two novels, as they also sound good

I loved this book, but in a sad way.

This book was somewhat of a slow read. Jo's character is the most interesting, her history the most colorful, but I felt the book focuses a lot on Claire. I was hoping for a lot more growth and redemption from her, but that didn't happen. She tolerated Dee, so she could get her baby, and then tried to redeem her conscience by risking losing "her" son, by telling him the truth when the time is right.

It's also very focused on Whit, and his entanglement with the sisters, as well as his position in the town. He's a hollow character and a jerk, so his path in the story is no surprise. Overall, this was a pretty bland story, much like the unsalted food Claire needed so much.

A little John Irving-ish, a little Alice Hoffman-ish, a truly magical, beautifully written story that swept me away. Fully drawn-out characters, interesting interwoven story lines, all with a little bit a magic thrown in to the mix! A quick, engrossing read!

I found this an interesting story. It takes place in a small paper town in Massachusetts. It revolves around two families, one wealthy, who owns the paper mill, and the other, 3 orphaned children, who seem to be the town pariahs. While the characters were not always likeable, they were well written and intriguing.½

mixed feelings about this one. felt really close to Truly and the author did a great job making me feel her pain and isolation. but it was all so bleak for soooo long and the quilt portion turned the story too abruptly in a new direction. didn't feel planned out or paced well, especially the ending, when at long last things began happening but way too quickly like the author was running out of time and had to finish the book before some kind of buzzer went off.

Un romanzo magico che narra con incredibile delicatezza alcuni fra i temi più controversi ed attuali della nostra società dimostrandoci che, in realtà, sono radicati nella natura dell'uomo fin dalla notte dei tempi.
Diversità, eutanasia, magia, emarginazione, egoismo ma anche amore, bontà, speranza e amicizia.

Un romanzo che merita di essere letto, assaporato e conservato.

Cute and a quick read, but it felt like a lot of things I've ready before. If you loved The Cure for Death by Lightning, stuff by Sue Monk Kidd, et al, you will probably love this. But it isn't as good as books that are similar but in my opinion, a cut above, such as Water for Elephants and The Time Travelers Wife.

It may be destiny, it may be fate, but really, it’s an accident of birth. Some, like the McAllisters, are born to wealth and power, bestowed on them by the family’s paper mill. Others, like the Snows, are destined to lead a hard-scrabble life, living from hand to mouth. When their mother dies and Mercy Snow and her siblings return to Titan Falls, they discover their father is also dead. With nowhere else to go, they take up residence on the father’s land. Scorned and distrusted by the townsfolk, Mercy’s brother is blamed for a bus crash that kills a student. June McAllister becomes privy to evidence that might clear him, but it also might implicate someone close to her. Thus begins the connection between the most influential family in town and most despised. But it is not really the beginning of their connection; their history goes back to earlier generations. A well-crafted story, this tale takes as many turns as the river the paper mill is built on. Thought-provoking with in-depth characters, this tale will keep you turning pages, hoping for the best for the Snows, but fearing the worst. The story is gripping and bleak, and well worth reading.

Very much a woven story tale. A real page turner. Bizarre. First work by this author. Made you laugh and cry as well.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is a witch's brew of hard luck and determination with more than a touch of the Brothers Grimm thrown in for good measure. It reads almost like a fairy tale with fate seeming to guide a mismatched romance and the unintended consequences of an action based on mercy. It's the most engrossing book I've read in a long time.

This book was a quick read, and I must say that it had its ups and downs. The premise is one of a girl who is born in a small town into a terrible situation and still makes her way in the world without going completely mad.

Truly (the protagonist and central character) is born to a mother who makes dresses and pretties them up with fine needlework, and her birth causes her mother's death. Her father becomes a neglectful alcoholic, and her sister does her best to raise her younger sibling . . . until they grow up enough to go to the one-room schoolhouse of Aberdeen County. It is at the schoolhouse among the students and a terribly selfish teacher that the bullying begins, and really, the book drags at this point. It would be hard to put all those years of trauma into a few pages, and this portion is pretty central to Truly and her immediate circle of people who influence her, but somehow the writing just did not grip me as it did right at the beginning and towards the end.

Especially at the end, when she is grown and living with the most recent Dr. Robert Morgan and his son, and she discovers the secret of her ancestress' quilt that the philosophy and deep writing really take hold. It starts to be a soul's journey and less of a "growing up different in a small town is miserable" standard fare. Needlework and quilting both figure prominently in this book, as does the borderline Dr. Robert Morgan and his family's influence over her family's. And Truly's influence over her own destiny at the end becomes a most welcome respite.

From The Book Cover:

In the tiny town of Titan Falls, New Hampshire, the paper mill dictates a quiet, steady rhythm of life. But one day a tragic bus accident sets two families on a course toward destruction, irrevocably altering the lives of everyone in their wake.
June McAllister is the wife of the local mill owner and undisputed first lady in town. But the Snow family, a group of itinerant ne'er-do-wells who live on a decrepit and cursed property, have brought her--and the town--nothing but grief. June will do anything to cover up a dark secret she discovers after the crash, one that threatens to upend her picture-perfect life, even if it means driving the Snow family out of town. But she has never gone up against a force as fierce as the young Mercy Snow. Mercy is determined to protect her rebellious brother, whom the town blames for the accident, despite his innocence. And she has a secret of her own. When an old skeleton is discovered not far from the crash, it beckons Mercy to solve a mystery buried deep within the town's past.

My Thoughts:

It's not a really bad book...it just didn't do well at holding my interest. Maybe that was why it had been on my TBR list for a year and half. Titan Falls is a town worthy of a Stephen King novel but without the extreme creepiness. The town, and more importantly the Androscoggin River, become characters in and of themselves. In a place where the air and water are as poisonous as the attitudes, Mercy Snow and her family become embroiled in a secret wrapped in a mystery. The close-minded, close-lipped nature of the townspeople was very realistic as was the “hide your dirty laundry” beliefs of most of the characters. In a place where loyalty is often replaced by self-preservation, the deception runs as deep and pollutes as completely as the river itself. The semi-religious allusions gave the novel a darkness that permeated the characters as well. The writing was beautiful although a bit overdone at times, and I became buried in figurative language. In fact, the novel seemed to drag some, and I found myself wanting to just get on with the story line in the middle.
June was an interesting character; however, her martyr attitude became draining and frustrating. Her need to be the town paragon made her insipid to me, and while I enjoy omniscient POV most of the time, the switching narration was a bit confusing in the beginning as were the flashbacks. At one point, there was a flashback within a flashback, and I found myself wishing for a more forward progression. However...the book is smart and slightly dark with a driving need that matches that of the characters and will keep you reading.

What a pleasant read. I wasn't sure if this would hold my interest, but the character of Truly fills up the room, as a giant should.

Tiffany Baker does a great job of simmering 150 years of family history into a few hundred pages, and weaving what could have been a meandering tale into a single story, much like Tabitha Morgan's quilt. There is love, and death, and regret, and reason to hope, even in these outcast lives. Perhaps Serena Jane should have never left - the drama here matches anything Hollywood has ever invented.

My only disappointment is that there were no real surprises. The twists & turns are visible for chapters ahead. And the one thing you might want to see happen is never addressed. So, 4* instead of 5. Regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone.

Titan Falls, New Hampshire is home to the Titan Paper Mill on the banks of the Androscoggin River. The McAllister family owns the mill and most would say that they also own the town. The current McAllister's are Cal, his wife June, and their son Nate. Even though June is not from the area, Cal met her at college, she is the ruling grand dame of the town and, as a McAllister, she controls, or tries to control, the thoughts and actions of the citizens, most of whom are beholden to her husband for a job. The one exception to this has been the various members of the Snow family who have lived on a plot of land by the river for years.

When a school bus accident claims a victim and puts the bus driver in the hospital the coincidence of Zeke Snow's truck found crashed into a tree further down the road makes it clear to most that Zeke is likely the guilty party who forced the bus off the road, causing the fatal accident. Mercy and Hannah Snow, Zeke's sisters know he is innocent but it is nearly impossible to win the war of words and accusations that June has undertaken in the community. Zeke goes into hiding and his sister Mercy undertakes the nearly impossible task of clearing his name. But June has her own reasons to make sure Zeke is blamed for the accident.

Baker does an excellent job developing her characters. She describes them along with land and weather in Titan Falls with such a deft hand that they all, as well as the river, become characters in this giant-killing tale. For me Mercy Snow clearly shares more than a passing resemblance to a modern day folktale, with elements of a morality play. The basis for the story is a universal good versus evil, the little guy versus the big guy, with the down trodden Snows who have a mystical tie with the land are struggling to be treated fairly by the town controlled by the evil pollution-mongering McAllisters. It is also a novel of secrets. There are old secrets and new ones connecting everyone and not all of the secrets are known until the end.

While Baker's writing elevated Mercy Snow above the ordinary, I did keep thinking that this story has been told before, which detracted from my overall enjoyment. I'll also freely admit that the ending raised my original idea of what rating I would end up giving to Mercy Snow. Even though we know right from the start who caused the bus accident, there are a few other surprises awaiting patient readers.

Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker is very highly recommended.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley for review purposes.

In The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, Tiffany Baker's debut novel, we meet Truly Plaice, a woman who has been super-sized since her birth. Truly knows she is different and the polar opposite of her older sister, Serena Jane, who epitomizes a delicate, lovely female. Their mother dies after Truly's birth and their father tries to care for them as long as he can, but ends up having to have the girls cared for by others. By the time their father also dies, Truly and Serena Jane are separated and being cared for by different families.

Truly knows she's different, but on her first day of school she hears the label "giant" for the first time from the teacher, Priscilla Sparrow. Miss Sparrow sends a note home, wanting Truly to go to the doctor, but Truly's father blames Dr. Morgan for his wife's death and doesn't want his daughter turned into a "circus freak". He doesn't understand that she may have an underlying medical condition.

After their father dies, Truly and Serena Jane lead completely opposite lives with different families. Serena Jane leads a pampered life in town, destined to be a future Aberdeen May Queen, while Truly is sent out to live in the country with a poor family. Serena Jane's beauty makes her the target of classmate Bob Bob Morgan's obsession, a desire that is even more malignant than his need to torment Truly. Bob Bob is the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans who have been doctors in Aberdeen for generations but also related to the wife of the first Dr. Morgan, Tabitha Dyerson, who was rumored to be the town witch. The location of her shadow book, a book containing her secrets for healing and perhaps darker powers, has been searched for and talked about for years.

Circumstances bring the diverse cast of characters in Baker's novel together... and with that I'll stop. There was quite a buzz about The Little Giant of Aberdeen County when it first came out so, although many of you have likely read or heard about it, I don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't.

Baker's writing is skillful and creative writer. The narrative is compelling and Baker's use of language is unique. There were really some wonderfully written passages and descriptions. In a twist, she gives Truly a first-person omniscient narrative voice in The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. I was totally immersed in this novel and anxious to finish it.

I did have a couple qualms about The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. First, Serena Jane is raped by Bob Bob and the rather casual way it was treated bothered me. The second thing that bothered me was the third and final part of the book was not quite up to the expectations I had developed after reading the first two parts. It just wasn't quite as good - however I'll still very highly recommend it; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

I have had this book on my shelf for awhile now. It was listed as a favorite by an author I enjoy but I just kept putting it off to read other newer books. But this book is what I have been needing! I was absorbed into the life of Truly Plaice right from the start. Tiffany Baker infuses wise words of wisdom throughout this story of a small town full of pious expectations of the citizens, prejudice, bullying, “pretty” people and outcast and then weaving in acceptance, peace, healing and even love between several hurtful and hurting characters. I especially enjoyed Truly’s learning about the lost “Book of Spells” and using the herbs for her own purposes. There is just so much to glean from this gem of a book. This is one to not hurry through and think you have it all figured out. Just sit back and let these characters live in your head for awhile and hear what they have to really say. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County was such a welcome surprise after so many average books.

This book did not engage me as much as I expected it to, it was easy to put down and walk away. I cannot name anything though that I didn't really like...maybe it was just the pain that each character endured. I am grateful for happy endings. I was watching something this morning about Japanese floral arranging, and it strikes me that the distance between people in this novel is as central as their togetherness.