The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, Melanie Benjamin

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, Melanie Benjamin

A fascinating biographical, historical fiction.  Melanie Benjamin has gathered the information that is available about General Tom Thumb’s wife – Lavinnia Warren and the author has done a wonderful job of capturing the historical context of this true story and filled it in with an imaginative combination of personality and texture.

We enjoyed the story and the threads of reality that traced the “miniature people” in relationship to P T Barnum.  Imagine what it must be like to be a “perfect person” in miniature.  Would you feel miniature or would you feel like everyone else?  Inside your miniature body is a full sized mine, a creative person who is only able to earn a living by exhibiting themselves as a curiosity. 

She does not come out very lovable, but would we be pleasant under this conditions?  In fact the strength of the person – a real attribute – makes her famous and a member of elite society.  She meets presidents, queens, the super-rich, and the famous people of her day.  Tom Thumb was the ulta famous miniature – a creation of both biology and P T Barnum’s fertile imagination, yet Tom was content and close friend of Barnum.

Vinnie was not so content, but she was pragmatic and she married Tom because it made good financial sense.  However, this did not mean happiness.  The Tom Thumb marriage became the sensation of the nation with children dressed as the four miniatures – a site so ridiculous I had to research and find out it is true.

And yes they were in the Hull fire, on one of the first trains to the Pacific Northwest and in many other famous locations and events.  There was  a time in the narrative that I thought the author really went overboard to get T R and Bill Cody and other celebrities in the text, but once again research said that this was the truth.  In many ways they crossed some of the most important aspects of American History and their story was not of a miniature set of lives, but of a grand life lived by people who were described as miniatures.

There is death and birth, dramatic events, personal conflicts and sub texts enough to fill many books.  The story can drag at times and feel too dense at others, but the pace of life is like that.  I recommend the book, but historical fiction hardly seems an adequate category.