For fans of Sara Gruen, Geraldine Brooks, and E. L. Doctorow's historical novels, a barnstorming tale of an irrepressible, brawling, bawdy era and the remarkable woman who had the courage to match the unique spirit of America's Gilded Age. She was only two feet, eight inches tall, but her legend rea... ches out to us more than a century later. Instead, she contacted P. T. Barnum, married tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and became the world's most unexpected celebrity. Vinnie's wedding captured the nation's attention, diverted attention away from the Civil War, and even ushered her into the White House. But her celebrity put her most prized possession in jeopardy: her equally sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape Vinnie's spotlight. The Autobiography of Mrs. Washington is a rousing Gilded Age novel. Look for special features inside, and join the Circle for author chats and more. BONUS: This edition includes a timeline, an interview with Melanie Benjamin, and an excerpt from Melanie Benjamin's Alice I Have Been.
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Bantam
Apr 3, 2012
9780385344166
Paperback
English
480
TOM THUMB, author Melanie Benjamin explores Vinnie's personal life in a fictional examination of this compelling historical figure.
General Tom Thumb, as Charles Stratton was known in the second half of the 19th century, was a perfectly miniature man about two and a half foot high.
She provides "intermissions" between the novel's sections, excerpts from publications of the day that give a sense of the world beyond Vinnie's circumscribed existence.
Despite that disclaimer, of course, the 32-inch high Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton (1841-1919) DID in large measure allow her size to determine her future, as Melanie Benjamin's historical novel "The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb" (Delacorte Press, a Random House imprint, 448 pages, $25.0...
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