The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb - Hardcover

"By turns heart-rending and thrilling, this big-hearted book recounts a fictionalized life of this most extraordinary of women in prose that is lush, and details that are meticulously researched. I loved this book."
--Sara Gruen, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Ape House" and "Water for Elephants
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"Melanie Benjamin's striking novel about the diminutive Lavinia Warren Bump, one of P.T. Barnum's "oddities," shows that love and desire, strength and ambition come in all sizes. "Mrs. Tom Thumb" brings out the humanity in all of us."
--Sandra Dallas, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Prayers for Sale" and "Whiter Than Snow

""Melanie Benjamin has created a compelling heroine, whose dramatic and poignant story will capture the reader's heart to the last page."
--Stephanie Cowell, author of "Claude & Camille: A novel of Monet and Marrying Mozart
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Advance praise for "The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb"
"Benjamin handles the era of mid-nineteenth-century America like a native, telling a walloping good story about a tiny person with the soul of a giant. The lovely Lavinia Bump once again comes alive, and we're all the richer because of it."--Ellen Bryson, author of "The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno"
"Vinnie Bump is one of the most engaging characters to come along in a while. Nineteenth-century women had few options; Vinnie had fewer yet. Melanie Benjamin renders her deeply human in a no-nonsense Olive Kitteridge sort of way. Readers will not soon forget her. I know I won't."--Johanna Moran, author of "The Wives of Henry Oades"
"Lavinia Warren was only thirty-two inches tall, but in Melanie Benjamin's "The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb" she soars above the tumult of Gilded Age America. Benjamin makes her a woman of courage and refinement with an itch for adventure and ambitions that far outst

"By turns heartrending and thrilling, this bighearted novel recounts the life of an extraordinary woman in lush, meticulously researched prose. I loved it!"--Sara Gruen
"[Melanie Benjamin] knows how to combine research and readability. And she's given Vinnie such dignity and courage . . . that her heroine commands attention from the first page.""--The Washington Post"
"Remarkable, soaring . . . a spellbinding tale . . . a fascinating story of triumph and tragedy and one person who refused to live a small life.""--BookPage"
"Melanie Benjamin enfolds the reader in the intimate world of Lavinia Warren Stratton, better known as Mrs. Tom Thumb, [whose] voice is unflinching. . . . That the characters have faults and regrets, as well as hope, adds to the veracity of the novel.""--The Denver Post"
"A narrative voice that is feisty, intelligent, brave, adventurous, and resourceful."--"The Boston Globe"
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"Grabs you from the opening pages, providing hints of the absorbing and entertaining story to come . . . a delightful cavalcade of late nineteenth-century Americana.""--Library Journal"

"By turns heartrending and thrilling, this bighearted novel recounts the life of an extraordinary woman in lush, meticulously researched prose. I loved it!"--Sara Gruen

"[Melanie Benjamin] knows how to combine research and readability. And she's given Vinnie such dignity and courage . . . that her heroine commands attention from the first page."--The Washington Post

"Remarkable, soaring . . . a spellbinding tale . . . a fascinating story of triumph and tragedy and one person who refused to live a small life."--BookPage

"Melanie Benjamin enfolds the reader in the intimate world of Lavinia Warren Stratton, better known as Mrs. Tom Thumb, [whose] voice is unflinching. . . . That the characters have faults and regrets, as well as hope, adds to the veracity of the novel."--The Denver Post

"A narrative voice that is feisty, intelligent, brave, adventurous, and resourceful."--The Boston Globe

"Grabs you from the opening pages, providing hints of the absorbing and entertaining story to come . . . a delightful cavalcade of late nineteenth-century Americana."--Library Journal

Melanie Benjamin is a pseudonym for Melanie Hauser, the author of two contemporary novels. Her first work of historical fiction as Melanie Benjamin was Alice I Have Been. She lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next historical novel.