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A review by lisamshardlow
The Smallest Man: the most uplifting book of the year by Frances Quinn
4.0
Set in the early 1600’s and spanning 20 years. 10 year old Nat Davy is born with Dwarfism. His father sees him as a useless burden and tries to sell him to the circus. Getting a better price elsewhere, Nat ends up being sold to Queen Henrietta Maria, and is presented to her in a pie! Nat soon discovers that the 15 year old Queen is also in a similar situation, having been ‘sold’ into a loveless marriage to King Charles I and is desperately homesick. A friendship forms between Nat and the woman who will become the trigger for the Civil War. Nat must face discrimination and prejudice, but longs to be accepted.
I really loved Nat, his character was so lovely. Having a visible disability myself, I felt as though I could relate to him and his difficulties. I really loved the friendship that he had with the Queen, she accepted him just as he was and he became a trusted member of her household, which I thought was lovely. It’s a story of a very resilient person overcoming a lot of misfortune, sometimes it’s very sad, but a lot of the time it is also very uplifting. It isn’t very often that I come across fiction books about someone with a physical disability, and it’s been very refreshing to read.
One thing that I wasn’t much for was the politics surrounding the Civil War. Since the story is set from Nat’s point of view, I’m not sure he would have known most of what was happening after he was separated from the King and Queen, would he?
Despite the politics, which I admit that I didn’t really understand, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed everything about Nat and the characters he becomes friends with. I also think it was very well written.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, stories about people with visible disabilities, the Civil War, a bit of romance, but above all a very uplifting story.
I really loved Nat, his character was so lovely. Having a visible disability myself, I felt as though I could relate to him and his difficulties. I really loved the friendship that he had with the Queen, she accepted him just as he was and he became a trusted member of her household, which I thought was lovely. It’s a story of a very resilient person overcoming a lot of misfortune, sometimes it’s very sad, but a lot of the time it is also very uplifting. It isn’t very often that I come across fiction books about someone with a physical disability, and it’s been very refreshing to read.
One thing that I wasn’t much for was the politics surrounding the Civil War. Since the story is set from Nat’s point of view, I’m not sure he would have known most of what was happening after he was separated from the King and Queen, would he?
Despite the politics, which I admit that I didn’t really understand, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed everything about Nat and the characters he becomes friends with. I also think it was very well written.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, stories about people with visible disabilities, the Civil War, a bit of romance, but above all a very uplifting story.