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fictionalkate's review
3.0
In the first few pages of this book you have an illegitimate pregnancy, an near abortion and a woman trying to save a "child" from drowning in the Yarra river.
It was a fantastic start and I was drawn in instantly. I really liked how the novel was set out - with chapters from the main narrator, Mary Ann, interspersed with the past and chapters from the performers in the travelling circus.
I'd never read a story about a circus or about "Little People" before and those two things kept me interested until the final page.
Historical fiction isn't really my favourite genre and I don't think this story will change my feelings on that but this was an entertaining read.
It was a fantastic start and I was drawn in instantly. I really liked how the novel was set out - with chapters from the main narrator, Mary Ann, interspersed with the past and chapters from the performers in the travelling circus.
I'd never read a story about a circus or about "Little People" before and those two things kept me interested until the final page.
Historical fiction isn't really my favourite genre and I don't think this story will change my feelings on that but this was an entertaining read.
barry_x's review
4.0
This book seemed destined to be one of those books one picks up and pretty much instantly forgets until the last third were it turned into a real page turner I really couldn't put down. I know when I've got a book like that because I find myself reading whilst walking down the street rather than just picking it up during 'reading time'.
Little People is the story of Mary Ann - a woman who falls pregnant to the man of the house in her role of Governess and is dismissed. She decides against an abortion at the last minute and is about to throw herself into the Yarra Yarra river when she sees what she thinks is a child drowning in the river. She rescues the child but all is not as she thought. The child is in fact Mr Charles Stratton otherwise known as General Tom Thumb, a little person performing in P T Barnum's travelling show as it makes it's way across Australia.
Set in the 1880's and based on the real sideshow featuring little people that travelled across Australia Little People is an insight into how people born 'different' made their way in life in the 1800's. It's also a road trip, a mystery and an exploration into feelings of motherhood. It also features much mad science from the Victorian era.
The show is indebted to Mary Ann after rescuing their chief draw and takes her in. It quickly becomes obvious that she is pregnant and although she used the cover story of being a recent widow Stratton believes he has impregnated her with the power of his magnetism via some kind of water / electrical charge. Mary Ann doesn't want the baby and Stratton, believing that the child will be a little person like him wants to adopt the child and bring it up as his own with his wife Lavinia (also a little person).
What we have is a story that has intrigue - someone wants to put a spanner in the works of the adoption and each of the characters in the troupe have their own backstory, secrets and motivations. It's a novel of rivalry as the little people in the troupe aim to get their share of the limelight (there is a fantastic duel scene in here that was menacing, tense and superbly put together). People in the troupe appear not to trust each other and the reader 'knows' something is up and has to join the dots.
The road trip element of the book is really interesting and the difficulty of crossing roaring rivers and sweltering deserts in Australia effectively in horse drawn coaches is captured well. This is a tour which has it's challenges. The effort of getting through the tour and a spirit of 'the show must go on' shines through. As a former (and short lived!) touring musician I could identify with this! The different people of the era really were like rock stars and it appears were gawped at, laughed at, admired and reviled in equal measure.
The novel also tracks Mary Ann's journey through pregnancy and acceptance / love for her baby as the child goes from a bag of cells to a foetus to a child. In the early part of the novel she wishes to abort the child and then can only call it Belly and resents it. She does change her feelings for her child throughout the novel. I can imagine that many women may go through this perspective during pregnancy although how accurately the feelings and emotions of Mary Ann are portrayed I can only guess at. The child is the other important little person in the book.
The first two thirds of the novel are quite pedestrian but then the novel does kick into overdrive as the various character plots and motivations come together (this is handled quite well in the novel by the supporting characters having their own chapters (or sideshows with real photographs)). Other reviews have pointed to this being a melodrama but like other reviewers the exaggerated heroes and villains adds to the excitement and fits the novel perfectly. Similar to a pro wrestling shows their may be shades of grey in the actions and motivations of the characters but by the time the novel ends the reader knows who exactly to root for
Little People is the story of Mary Ann - a woman who falls pregnant to the man of the house in her role of Governess and is dismissed. She decides against an abortion at the last minute and is about to throw herself into the Yarra Yarra river when she sees what she thinks is a child drowning in the river. She rescues the child but all is not as she thought. The child is in fact Mr Charles Stratton otherwise known as General Tom Thumb, a little person performing in P T Barnum's travelling show as it makes it's way across Australia.
Set in the 1880's and based on the real sideshow featuring little people that travelled across Australia Little People is an insight into how people born 'different' made their way in life in the 1800's. It's also a road trip, a mystery and an exploration into feelings of motherhood. It also features much mad science from the Victorian era.
The show is indebted to Mary Ann after rescuing their chief draw and takes her in. It quickly becomes obvious that she is pregnant and although she used the cover story of being a recent widow Stratton believes he has impregnated her with the power of his magnetism via some kind of water / electrical charge. Mary Ann doesn't want the baby and Stratton, believing that the child will be a little person like him wants to adopt the child and bring it up as his own with his wife Lavinia (also a little person).
What we have is a story that has intrigue - someone wants to put a spanner in the works of the adoption and each of the characters in the troupe have their own backstory, secrets and motivations. It's a novel of rivalry as the little people in the troupe aim to get their share of the limelight (there is a fantastic duel scene in here that was menacing, tense and superbly put together). People in the troupe appear not to trust each other and the reader 'knows' something is up and has to join the dots.
The road trip element of the book is really interesting and the difficulty of crossing roaring rivers and sweltering deserts in Australia effectively in horse drawn coaches is captured well. This is a tour which has it's challenges. The effort of getting through the tour and a spirit of 'the show must go on' shines through. As a former (and short lived!) touring musician I could identify with this! The different people of the era really were like rock stars and it appears were gawped at, laughed at, admired and reviled in equal measure.
The novel also tracks Mary Ann's journey through pregnancy and acceptance / love for her baby as the child goes from a bag of cells to a foetus to a child. In the early part of the novel she wishes to abort the child and then can only call it Belly and resents it. She does change her feelings for her child throughout the novel. I can imagine that many women may go through this perspective during pregnancy although how accurately the feelings and emotions of Mary Ann are portrayed I can only guess at. The child is the other important little person in the book.
The first two thirds of the novel are quite pedestrian but then the novel does kick into overdrive as the various character plots and motivations come together (this is handled quite well in the novel by the supporting characters having their own chapters (or sideshows with real photographs)). Other reviews have pointed to this being a melodrama but like other reviewers the exaggerated heroes and villains adds to the excitement and fits the novel perfectly. Similar to a pro wrestling shows their may be shades of grey in the actions and motivations of the characters but by the time the novel ends the reader knows who exactly to root for
mandi_m's review
An engaging novel based on the real visit to Australia by a group of dwarf entertainers (little people) in the 1800's. The troup had been trained by P.T. Barnum and the author weaves her tale around these facts.
bookdancing's review
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Little_People_by_Jane_Sullivan
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