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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
This was a nice little read. It's a colorful description of how it was to be as a woman in the 19th century, behind the scenes of carnival life, and how it was to be "different" before society had an appreciation for diversity. It's refreshing to read the story of a strong woman who takes the reins of her own life while still longing for true love and companionship.
Thank you to Firstreads for the opportunity to read this book before its release in August.
The story of Lavinia "Vinnie" Warren Bump reads part history and part love story. At little more than two feet tall, Vinnie rises from obscurity to a life of entertainment, first on Riverboats prior to the Civil War, and then retreating to the north to perform under P.T. Barnum's American Museum. Relecting on the plight of woman in general in the latter 1800's, Vinnie forges her own destiny despite daunting societal and physical barriers.
This book was purely amazing to read; I simply could not put it down. Before I finished, I had already secured the author's previous work,"Alice I Have Been", from our local library. If you enjoyed "Water for Elephants" or "Chang and Eng", this book is for you!
The story of Lavinia "Vinnie" Warren Bump reads part history and part love story. At little more than two feet tall, Vinnie rises from obscurity to a life of entertainment, first on Riverboats prior to the Civil War, and then retreating to the north to perform under P.T. Barnum's American Museum. Relecting on the plight of woman in general in the latter 1800's, Vinnie forges her own destiny despite daunting societal and physical barriers.
This book was purely amazing to read; I simply could not put it down. Before I finished, I had already secured the author's previous work,"Alice I Have Been", from our local library. If you enjoyed "Water for Elephants" or "Chang and Eng", this book is for you!
This book is superbly written and the story is very intriguing, well-told with well-developed characters. However - and don't let this deter you - I don't think I really liked Vinnie as a person. Maybe it was the times in which she lived but she seemed just a bit self-centered. Again - that should not stop anyone from reading the book as it well done and provides some insight into the times as well as PT Barnum and the Tom Thumbs. I just found myself, at times, yelling at Vinnie to 'grow up' and stop being so whiny and melodramatic. Other than that - a strong book for sure.
The Autobiography of Mrs Tomb Thumb, while a fictional account of one of P T Barnum's famous Lilliputians, manages to be a very interesting and well written book. In many ways I think that it captures the spirit of the real woman as if she had written the book herself.
Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump was one of two women born with a pituitary disorder that led to dwarfism in a prominent New England family. Her sister Minnie and Vinnie (short for Lavinia) were of a sort which while shortened by the condition had the correct proportional limbs and body for their size. Standing just 32 inches high Vinnie was raised in a happy home but longed for more in life. This led her first to excel in school then to become an excellent schoolmarm and later a performer. All of this seems so simply put but by no means was this true of Vinnie's life. After all it isn't just any woman who can go from the relative obscurity and sheltering bosom of her family straight into the employ of P T Barnum!
Today most of us have forgotten many of the details of Barnum's life and of the many unique things he brought to the world's attention over the course of his life. This book does a great job of talking about that era and the impact he had on Vinnie, General Tom Thumb, and her sister Minnie.
At no point is our fictional Vinnie ever unclear about how she feels about being so small or about how others view and often limit her for it. Vinnie of course has no intention of letting her size limit her life and does many things (such as travel the world when it was a very long and often arduous trip to make with very few beaten paths to follow) that many of us don't have the courage to do even today.
The only trouble is SHE still limits herself she doesn't allow bonds to form between herself and those who might be friends or lovers as she should and often she finds herself dealing with the consequences of the limits she sets for herself in her personal life.
While she is very close to Minnie and has been since they were children she is unable to cope with the idea of Minnie as a person with her own life. She is unable to see her husband Charles (the beloved Tom Thumb)as a person she can love as well as share the same world view with (in fact she can often be unduly judgmental of him). Worst yet she doesn't truly know her own self worth outside of her performances or just how much she gives up to maintain her life.
Melanie Benjamin recreates Vinnie's world and her voice in great detail from various historical resources (among them the incomplete autobiography that Vinnie wrote herself)and brings it all to vivid life. Vinnie, Minnie, Tom Thumb and even Barnum himself are all very unique characters and while our view of them all is colored by Vinnie's point of view we are also able to see what she has not in these people. This book is a likely to be interesting to anyone interested in history, Barnum, side shows, the lives of those affected by dwarfism and Vinnie herself.
Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump was one of two women born with a pituitary disorder that led to dwarfism in a prominent New England family. Her sister Minnie and Vinnie (short for Lavinia) were of a sort which while shortened by the condition had the correct proportional limbs and body for their size. Standing just 32 inches high Vinnie was raised in a happy home but longed for more in life. This led her first to excel in school then to become an excellent schoolmarm and later a performer. All of this seems so simply put but by no means was this true of Vinnie's life. After all it isn't just any woman who can go from the relative obscurity and sheltering bosom of her family straight into the employ of P T Barnum!
Today most of us have forgotten many of the details of Barnum's life and of the many unique things he brought to the world's attention over the course of his life. This book does a great job of talking about that era and the impact he had on Vinnie, General Tom Thumb, and her sister Minnie.
At no point is our fictional Vinnie ever unclear about how she feels about being so small or about how others view and often limit her for it. Vinnie of course has no intention of letting her size limit her life and does many things (such as travel the world when it was a very long and often arduous trip to make with very few beaten paths to follow) that many of us don't have the courage to do even today.
The only trouble is SHE still limits herself she doesn't allow bonds to form between herself and those who might be friends or lovers as she should and often she finds herself dealing with the consequences of the limits she sets for herself in her personal life.
While she is very close to Minnie and has been since they were children she is unable to cope with the idea of Minnie as a person with her own life. She is unable to see her husband Charles (the beloved Tom Thumb)as a person she can love as well as share the same world view with (in fact she can often be unduly judgmental of him). Worst yet she doesn't truly know her own self worth outside of her performances or just how much she gives up to maintain her life.
Melanie Benjamin recreates Vinnie's world and her voice in great detail from various historical resources (among them the incomplete autobiography that Vinnie wrote herself)and brings it all to vivid life. Vinnie, Minnie, Tom Thumb and even Barnum himself are all very unique characters and while our view of them all is colored by Vinnie's point of view we are also able to see what she has not in these people. This book is a likely to be interesting to anyone interested in history, Barnum, side shows, the lives of those affected by dwarfism and Vinnie herself.
A book about an arrogant woman who is very selfish in her attempt to gain fame and happiness. I just couldn't like Vinnie, she is not a sympathetic character. I would have been more interested if PT Barnum or Charles Stratton were the narrator.
Given that there is relatively little known about 'Mrs. Tom Thumb,' I think this was a well imagined book of filling in the information gaps. The story line was captivating and I really pulled for Mrs. Thumb, aka Vinnie. At times I think she was really portrayed as an ice princess but overall, she had a bright, independent spirit. I only hope that is closer to the truth than not!
Vinnie is a force to be reckoned with, not at all ready to live a quiet life on a farm as a schoolmarm. Seeking fame and recognition, she joins a traveling "freak show," where she learns that life away from the farm isn't safe, and yet she still yearns for recognition that she doesn't gain at home. She wants to be lauded for being small and different and yet to be respected as such.
I had a hard time understanding her desire to be in front of an audience being exploited as a little lady because if seems to contradict her desire to be respected.
The tale is interesting and well written, but Vinnie comes across as a diva who feels it is her due in life to be applauded simply for existing.
I had a hard time understanding her desire to be in front of an audience being exploited as a little lady because if seems to contradict her desire to be respected.
The tale is interesting and well written, but Vinnie comes across as a diva who feels it is her due in life to be applauded simply for existing.
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is an interesting look into the life of... well, Mrs. Tom Thumb. This is a pretty rare book in that, normally when the subject of the history of the American Freak Show, the wife of General Tom Thumb isn't brought up in discussion. But the author here really did their homework and delved into the life of a woman who, despite the world around her thinking otherwise, was a very intelligent, proud, and independent woman. Lavinia, our main character, is shown as a person that not everybody isn't going to fall in love with and defend 100% of the time. Her husband is shown as a very naive and impressionable to his surroundings, while Lavinia always likes to stay two steps ahead. When she talks to her family or her husband, you can feel the pity she has for them mixed with love, ESPECIALLY whenever she is talking to or about her little sister Minnie, who was also born as a little person. Surprisingly, it is the relationship between Lavinia and P.T. Barnum that is central to the story. A deep, platonic friendship between two respectful minds; rather than a romantic love between a married couple.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that this could replace actual documentaries or text on the history of the shows, but it's a good starting point to anybody that wanted to look into the subject of the American Freak Show. The author, from what I understand, took a lot of research from Lavinia's actual autobiography so I'd be willing to say that it can be a good read for anybody that wanted to read from the perspective of a little person. All in all, it's a nice light historical read.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that this could replace actual documentaries or text on the history of the shows, but it's a good starting point to anybody that wanted to look into the subject of the American Freak Show. The author, from what I understand, took a lot of research from Lavinia's actual autobiography so I'd be willing to say that it can be a good read for anybody that wanted to read from the perspective of a little person. All in all, it's a nice light historical read.