The Tiny One

With clarity, sensitivity, and striking authenticity, Eliza Minot adeptly captures the voice of a vibrant, intelligent child swept into a sea of sorrow and confusion in The Tiny One.

Via Mahoney Revere is eight years old when her mother is killed in a car accident. Confused by anguish, bewildered by her mother's absence, and mystified by the notion of death itself, Via retells the day of her mother's death in minute detail, trying to discern the crack in the world through which her mother must have slipped. She takes us through the seemingly ordinary moments of her day, from a cold-cereal breakfast to math class, when she is called to the principal's office to hear the news. Every small event of the tragic day calls up earlier memories from Via's young life, resulting in a beautifully patterned portrait of a comfortable childhood guarded by a warm and loving mother. Via attempts to grasp "how something so big could fit into such a little thing as a day."

Author: Eliza Minot
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 10/17/2000
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.51lbs
Size: 7.88h x 5.50w x 0.61d
ISBN: 9780375706332

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 10/22/2000 pg. 36
Entertainment Weekly 11/24/2000 pg. 75
New York Times 12/03/2000 pg. 109