The Tiny One : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Child and Her Mother
Review: Eliza Minot's first novel about an eight year old who loses her mother takes the reader through a single day in the life of the child,Via, but also through a lifetime of love between a mother and a child. As the day progresses, Via recalls moments in her past that bring both Via and her mother to life in the mind of the reader. Via becomes much more than just a character in a novel; she becomes a very real person as the book unfolds for the reader.

Via's character reminds the reader of similar child characters such as Kaye Gibbons' Ellen Foster and Elizabeth Berg's Katie, (Durable Goods and Joy School,) who have experienced adversity but have the will to triumph in spite of tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Writing Except...
Review: for the ending. A much-loved child's memories of her mother in an almost perfect family. Heart-warming, touching, and all of that, but the ending was suddenly very unrealistic. Via's mom is dead, but she knows SHE'S going to be okay. Not too upset at all, ready for her next adventure in life as a newly motherless, self-sufficient child. My mother died when I was nine, and this wasn't my reaction at all. So not a very credible ending in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Touching sweet, sweet story
Review: One of the best books I have read this year! The Tiny One captures so well the heart of a young girl, the book could have been written by a child. Minot has a keen eye for the inner depths of a child's wisdom. The book is not so much about the death of this poor girl's Mum, but about the loving memories she has shared with her that have shaped her heart and soul. Conversations between young Via and her Mum are so tangible you feel as though you have witnessed them. You grow in just a few pages to appreciate and love the relationship between mother and child, making the knowledge that Mum is gone that much more heartbreaking. This book does not allow you to be a bystander. You must participate in the relationship forged through chapters of bonding between Mum and Via. They are so much the essence of love, that when Via finally accepts her Mums death, she knows her Mum is still with her, in little fragments and sparkles. Minot is incredibly accurate in depicting the heart of a child, and the voice of Via is a loud, strong, memorable force. The relationship Via had with her Mum is a strong memory in all readers minds, helping to keep her alive.