The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)

What an absorbing read! About sixty years ago I read the Autobiography of Tom Thumb (I don't know if I have the title quite right but that book is one of the books referenced in this book.) and so learned about the existence of a kind of history I would never have learned in school. (Unless I went to a school where they taught a wide range of popular culture courses among which was one about the history of circuses, fairs, and various kinds of human displays for amusement and astonishment and enlightenment -- such courses exist.) I am talking about the history of popular public entertainments, entertainers, and impresarios. (Everything and everyone has and is part of a varieties of kinds of history.) So because of that first book which I came across in the public library at the corner of Cedar and Fenwick in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, I figured out one day that the "Barnum" part of the circus company's name -- Barnum and Baily Circus -- that used to come to town. That's how I figured out there were connections between and among the various kinds of display entertainment. So years later when my son and I went on a vacation together to Tampa, Florida I really wanted to visit the circus museums in that area.So when this book -- the fictional autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb -- came to my attention via BookBub probably I bought it without a second thought. And when I began to read it a couple of days later I was immediately drawn into the narrative and didn't want to put the book down until I finished (and didn't want it to end). The only "trouble" -- and it wasn't really any trouble at all -- with the book is that I couldn't stop believing and reading as if I were actually reading an authentic autobiography. I think that is the best kind of fiction (for me): fiction that seems to be real.Ms. Benjamin has imagined into being a character who will linger in my mind as long as my mind works (-- and none of us can take for granted that we won't become de-mented). I recommend with all enthusiasm this book, this story, this character, these characters to other readers. It is important that lots of people remember or learn that the "freaks" they are enjoying watching from the outside, from the audience, from the privacy of darkness, are real people with real lives and thoughts and interests and emotional lives. If we are a species that cannot forbear staring at those of our species who are not quite like us we must remember that staring is a two way street.In my anthology "THE STRANGE HISTORY OF SUZANNE LAFLESHE" AND OTHER STORIES OF WOMEN AND FATNESS I included two stories about Fat Women who lived their lives on display in sideshows or freak shows. One is the 1913 "Noblesse" by Mary E. WIlkins Freeman (a completely and totally and fertile brilliant short story writer) and the 1919 "Even As You and I" by Fannie Hurst (another prodigious short story writer and novelist; many of her short stories were made into movies -- "Back Street," "Imitation of Life," "Humoresque," and many others). The voice and perspective of the freak, the human being whose life is determined and defined and delimited by the public response to their appearance has never been a "stranger" to the world of fictional characters. The disability (w)rights movement has created a cultural space in which the voice of these others becomes central rather than peripheral. This book is a brilliant contribution to this literary/cultural tradition. Brava! to the author.

Melanie Benjamin's novel, ¨The Autobiography of Mrs.Tom Thumb,¨ rivets your attention from beginning to end in this story of Lavinia ¨Vinnie¨ Warren Bump who married Charles Stratton, known world-wide as¨General Tom Thumb. The novel tells the story in first person. Here you'll find the ¨Little People¨ of P. T. Barnum's world - and the trials of people who are singularly disadvantaged, e.g. Vinnie as a mature adult is 32" tall. Tom Thumb is but a few inches taller.In addition, this engrossing novel tells its stories against the back drop of American history, 1841-1919, a period that included the ¨gilded age¨, the civil war, and World War I. This was also a period in which women were making strident demands for gender equality.Protagonist Lavinia Bump knows from her earliest childhood days that she is different, even from the obvious matter of diminutive size. She is different in aspiration and ambition from her farming family. And, she's different for her desire to see and explore a world far beyond the loving arms of her family. Author Benjamin's book explores all those things and takes us along for the trip.The plot of ¨The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb¨ is generally presented chronologically, as Vinnie grows. The momentous changes in what would have been daily routines of farming begin with Colonel Wood, empressario/entertainer, who offers Vinnie a job and good salary to appear in his cast aboard a Mississippi gambling steam boat. While this adventure does take Vinnie beyond the dreary routine of farm life she wants to escape, there is also a low class drunken profane quality to that life, its performers and audiences. She barely escapes assault and rape by the colonel.The bulk of the novel concerns Vinnie's work with Barnum, the circus, her marriage, and worldwide celebrity status, including the who's who of the world of both wealth and royalty. Vinnie's character includes her ability at showmanship vie with those of Barnum, the master of them all.Vinnie's adult personal life is included here, including her aversion to love and sexual intimacy, particularly phobic responses to child bearing. Although she ¨adopts¨ several infants to be portrayed her own babies, her fears in that regard stem from her miniature sister's death in childbirth while delivering a normal-sized baby. Author Benjamin has created a wonderful story to show us differences whether physical challenges like the need to use specially constructed stair steps to reach a door knob and the creation of clothing, including gowns with ¨hoops,¨ etc. In these pages will also be found the experiences and feelings of people called freaks who enjoy being applauded the world over.Author Benjamin wonderful novel shows us these many things and does it without slipping into the maudlin or melodramatic. Historians and romantics alike will eat this book like Belgian chocolates, non-stop after the first page. And, it's a story that will live with you long after you finish the book.

I wasn't planning to write a review of this book, but my enthusiasm leaves me no choice. Simply stated: A wonderful read. Mrs. Tom Thumb, who cares? This was my attitude upon first discovering the title. Boy, was I mistaken. Written in the first person -- "The Autobiography of Mrs Tom Thumb"-- the author succeeds in entering into the mind , thoughts and feelings of the central character and by doing so informs the reader of what it means to be human.

Who knew? A great easily readable historical novel.

Lavinia Warren Bump was only 32" in height, but her story is huge. Melanie Benjamin's account, albeit fictionalised, has a real ring of truth and I was engrossed from the first pages. This is an account of the lady who married Tom Thumb. He was a circus attraction and a gentleman of limited height. I knew a little of his story, but nothing about that of his wife and this book really brings together a satisfying whole.The first person narrative gives a real voice and interpretation to Lavinia. I found her understanding of her situation and the perception of others filled with insight and intelligence. She brooked no nonsense and far from being exploited, she saw the advantages when opportunity knocked. The language is sympathetic and adds a layer of realism to this fictionalised account, but the basis is a thundering good story, very well told.

Fascinating story, Could well be true,maybe. All the same I was taken by her story.

This was one of the most precious books I have read in a long time. I recommend it highly to my friends