I'm at the Dollar Tree a lot because that's where I get most of my science project materials. When I have to buy project supplies 200+ students for very little money, I go where I can get good deals on straws, toothpicks, plastic cups, etc. So, while I'm there, I look around and quite often, find a gem of a book. This is one of them.
What a surprising read! I'm not sure if I would have picked up this book on my own, but I'm glad I did.
~Spoiler Alert~
Known as Mrs. Tom Thumb, Mercy Lavinia "Vinnie" Warren Bump was born a normal infant. But she suffered a pituitary disorder, which led to her proportionate dwarfism. Her family wanted to hide her from the eyes of the world, but she longed for another, more public life which afforded wider interaction with others.
At two feet, eight inches tall, she is small, to say the least. This book highlights Vinnie's life as a part of the circus act of P.T. Barnum, but what I find even more remarkable is that she held her own against village children as a school teacher before she embarked on her circus career. The fact that she can keep a classroom of children, some of whom are much, much taller than her, is a testament to her character and her will.
So, it comes as no surprise to me that she jumps at the chance to join the circus that supposed "family cousin" is running. Sure, she still has her school and teaching, but she chafes against the strict confines of the social norms. If she stays, she's relegated to the life of spinsterhood, a woman to be pitied in the neighborhood and included when occasion called for it.
Vinnie finally convinces her family to let her go with Colonel Wood to his "floating palace of entertainment," she's ready for an adventure, but what she finds is much more than what she expects. Even after she escapes that situation where she had been in physical danger of being raped or abused, her heart yearns for an adventure. So, SHE writes P.T. Barnum, offering her services in his circus.
There she meets P.T. Barnum and her future husband, Charles Sherwood, aka General Tom Thumb. As her circus act becomes more and more popular, especially after she marries General Tom Thumb (which preempts the coverage of the Civil War), she's in the company of presidents and royalty. However, life is anything but happy.
Their fame wanes after the dizzying heights and they are relegated to getting back on the trains (not P.T. Barnum's private trains) and going from town to town to perform. And her even smaller sister, Mini, joins her at the circus after being her bridesmaid for the wedding. But Mini is not made of the same stuff as Vinnie, and she doesn't enjoy the public life. All she wants is to return to her normal life, but her desire to stay close to Vinnie keeps Mini at the circus.
Eventually, Mini marries another circus performer, another small-sized man, and while giving birth to a normal sized baby, both the baby and Mini die. This tragic event marks the beginning of the end of a lot of relationships she has people around her - her husband and P.T. Barnum.
This is an epic novel about a woman who refused to be defined by her size and allow others, be it family or strangers, to dictate how she should live her life.
Vinnie's sheer determination to live the life she wants is awe-inspiring, to say the least. How she thought to control a classroom of kids (kids her days may have had more respect for her position as a teacher, but it couldn't have been easy), then go on to the unknown world of performing on "floating palaces" on the Mississippi. She consistently makes bold choices, even though at times, she feels that she has no other choice.
I hope I can live my life the way Vinnie did, with a sense of adventure and determination to follow my dreams, no matter what others say.
Two thumbs up! Way, way up!
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