The Thunder of Giants

by Joel Fishbane

Mixing the eccentricity of the circus world and the heart of a love story, The Thunder of Giants is a warm and engaging debut about two exceptional women - both almost eight feet tall.

The year is 1937, and Andorra Kelsey - 7'11" and just under 320 pounds - is on her way to Hollywood to become a star. Hoping to escape both poverty and the ghost of her dead husband, she accepts an offer from the wily Rutherford Simone to star in a movie about the life of Anna Swan, the Nova Scotia giantess who toured the world in the 19th century. Thus Anna Swan's story unfurls. Where Andorra is seen as a disgrace by an embarrassed family, Anna Swan is quickly celebrated for her unique size. Drawn to New York, Anna becomes a famed attraction at P. T. Barnum's American Museum even as she falls in love with Gavin Clarke, a veteran of the Civil War. Quickly disenchanted with a life of fame, Anna struggles to prove to Gavin - and the world - that she is more than the sum of her measurements.

The Thunder of Giants blends fact and fiction in a sweeping narrative that spans nearly a hundred years. Against the backdrop of epic events, two extraordinary women become reluctant celebrities in the hopes of surviving a world too small to contain them.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Drama, Historical, Adult, Audiobook, Book Club

Audible Audio

First published April 14, 2015

About the author

Novelist. Playwright. Cook. I write in cafes, read the New Yorker and once had a diabetic cat.

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I read a book that I just love--and not a moment too soon, especially after a month of duds (You readers know what I speak of, when every book you pick up stinks to high heaven and you begin to despair that you'll ever read another good book...and maybe the problem is you!) and I'm left speechless and don't really know what to say but, "I loved it!!! Read it! You don't want to miss this one!"

I loved this novel and just like Anna Swan's husband's appendage makes the poor examining doctor feel wholly inadequate, I fear my review will be wholly inadequate, but I will do my best.

First of all, this novel not only transported to me two different times and places in history, but it also made me laugh. From the mention of nervous farts to the witty offhand remarks between characters to the scenes themselves either in the tailor's shop involving a broken foot or the set of a Hollywood movie, the book fairly burst with surprise laughs.

Second, we learn about not one remarkable woman giant, but two, the first--Anna Swan--having been a real woman. I'm sure some artistic license was taken here, but we get the basics of the real woman, her size, her working for Barnum, her marriage and tours. Anna Swan is def my favorite of the two heroines. She's brave and amazing. She saves orphans, helps soldiers during the Civil War, all the while battling with her size. Her parts bring up issues of exploitation and even marriage. She's told she should marry someone like her. But what's so different about her really? She's may be large, may be called a giant lady, but really, she's just a lady. And we follow this lady from childhood in Canada (Pilgrims and New Yorkers will be shot! LOL) to "performing" in a museum to war to marriage, thru loss.

The second story is just after WWI, and another large lady deals with many of the same issues, combined with guilt over the death of her husband and feelings that things out of her control were caused by her. As another character later points out, she may be the reason for some decisions others made, but she didn't make their decisions for them. But she must realize that for herself.

So we have humor, history told in an entertaining way, two remarkable heroines, real-life struggles, food-for-thought, and all this told in a very engaging narrative.

Full review and favorite quotes: http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2015/...

[gaudeo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boy, am I ever finished! With main characters whose names are so similar it's hard to keep them straight, the jumping around in time periods (not to mention flashbacks and foreshadowing), and inapt language, it's hard to like this book. I hung in there through 75% of it, but just can't see it through to the end.

[Elizabeth (NC) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The ending was good and almost pulled it up to three stars. If I read it at a different time, I might have been able to pay better attention. Instead, the stories were too close, and I was just confused much of the time.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should fantasy be one of the tags? Possibly.
The historical part is the life of Anna Swan, a giant born in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, in the 19th century. She went to New York where she became part of PT Barnam's show. Fishbane addresses the problems involved in being so outsize - she was over 8 feet tall - since furniture isn't made to suit, doorways are too low, rooms are too small, and how do you build real relationships with people?
The other half of the story is that of a fictional giant named Andorra, named for the country of her birth, who is brought to the United States by her father and goes through all sorts of peculiar experiences in pursuit of a film contract involving a movie about Anna Swan's life.
Anna was unable to bear live children due to the ironic fact that her birth canal was too small, but Andorra ends up with three. Anna was outlived by her husband but Andorra is involved in her husband's death. Anna was among eleven children in a perfectly ordinary Nova Scotia family while Andorra was the only child of a Spanish mother who developed a terrible fistula (look it up) during the birth and suffered with it for the rest of her life. No, their lives aren't parallel, but the one life illuminates the other by its extreme weirdness.
The two stories are interwoven until it is all so unbelievably weird that it's difficult to separate the two streams.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointing book for me. I thought the premise sounded very interesting since it involved 2 women who were 'giants' in size. One of them was Anna Swan who was born in Nova Scotia and lived in the 19th century. Her part of the story is based on true facts about the life of Anna Swan. The second female giant, a fictional character, was Andora Kelsey. Andora was born in a tiny principality between France and Spain but lived most of her life in the United States.

The novel alternated between the two timelines but the transitions were not smooth and the novel felt very jerky. Although the novel seemed interesting at the beginning, it definitely did not remain so and I just kept plodding through hoping it would get better. I did not feel that the character development of either Anna or Andora was well done.

I did not like Fishbane's writing style with certain words written in all capital letters. It seemed like a silly ploy to me.

Although I would not recommend the book, I am glad I learned about the life of Anna Swan, the giant of Nova Scotia.

[Lisa James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about the life of Anna Swan, one of PT Barnum's giants back in NY, was as truly sad as it was fascinating. Gigantism is such a very rare disorder that it's fascinating to begin with. Sadly it does bring about a host of other ailments, & a shortened lifespan, so for Anna's husband to live to be in his early 80's is almost unheard of.

[Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a dual timeline historical fiction about the extraordinary lives of two women, Anna Swan (19th century) and Andorra Kelsey (1930s), and although separated by decades of years, their lives are connected by one likeness- both are giantesses with an impressive height of almost 8 feet. Set against the backdrop of Civil War in the 19th century, and Depression in 1930s, we see their trials and struggles as they battle to survive in a world who refuses to accept them for who they truly are.

I am certainly intrigued by the plot since I enjoy circus themed stories, either fiction or non-fiction. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed with the book. The plot was somehow lost in the middle of the story. I did not understand what was the main focus of the story except at the end it was about their struggles both in love and life. I enjoyed Anna's story more as it was more believable. Perhaps it was because it is based on a true historical character. http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/eppp-archive/10...
I thought there would be more written about her time as P.T Barnum's menagerie of oddities. Sadly, that was not the case. Andorra's story as the fictional character in this book was not appealing to me at all. It was too similar to Anna's story, somewhat boring and lacking substance.

I preferred Anna's character the most in this whole story. She was portrayed as a strong woman both in love and life. She was rational and calm with better judgement in decisions. As for Andorra, I absolutely dislike her. Selfish, childish and too whiny throughout the book. I find her to be overwhelming throughout the book. As for other characters, I felt they were not fully developed, and I could not connect with any of them. They seemed to be insignificant throughout the story due to lack of strong backstories.

My huge problem with this book is the storytelling part. While I always enjoy a dual timeline novel, unfortunately this book robbed me of that enjoyment. This story is narrated back and forth with alternating chapters of Anna and Andorra. However, in each chapters, there were too many flashbacks within flashbacks, and I kept having to refer to the beginning of the chapter to see who and what timeline that chapter is about. The timeline was not in a chronological order but rather scattered all over. Too confusing and too much work! Adding to the confusion was the fact that both Anna's and Andorra's stories were way too similar. Lastly, the connection between Anna and Andorra was minimal and weak. I couldn't comprehend the role of Andorra in this whole story.

In a nutshell, this is a book with a very promising plot and somewhat good story build up. However, it suffers from finesse in storytelling leaving me feeling frustrated and confused. Perhaps with a simpler plot and not too many twists in the story would render this book a delightful read.

[Renae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books I knew I had to read as soon as I heard the premise: historical lady giants! Seriously. The Thunder of Giants is a dual-perspectived historical novel about two extremely tall women and how their lives, separated by decades, intersect. Overall, I was impressed with the strength of Joel Fishbane’s storytelling and the way he didn’t rely solely on the uniqueness of his characters, though of course Anna and Andorra were a big draw. Even so, the story did get a little telenovela-ish towards the end, and while it was a satisfying conclusion, it was perhaps too sentimental.

The narrative, as I said, is split between two women, Andorra in the 1930s and Anna in the 1860s. Both are about 8 feet tall, and therefore have somewhat difficult lives as a consequence, though in different ways. Their lives intersect when a Hollywood talent scout asks Andorra to play the part of Anna in a film his wife is producing. Yet aside from this seemingly superficial connection of physical similarities, the two lady giants are both quite different, though by the end of The Thunder of Giants, their stories intersect much more completely.

I think it’s interesting that Fishbane chose to write about a both real historical figure and a fictional one in this novel. Anna Bates (née Swan) was a real woman who was born in Canada, came to New York to do shows for P.T. Barnum, then married another giant from Kentucky before settling permanently in a custom-built house in Ohio. Yet the novel’s other protagonist, Andorra Kelsey, is completely a product of the author’s imagination. On the one hand, I did enjoy the fiction Andorra’s story more of the two, but on the other hand, maybe I would have liked a story devoted entirely to Anna Bates, since she actually lived. I’m conflicted. I like Andorra, but did Fishbane need her in this novel to tell Anna’s story? It seems like the intersection between the two women is minimal and circumstantial, so it might have been better to just have one protagonist and skip the dual-narrative entirely. This is often my struggle with historical fiction featuring two storylines; it so often doesn’t seem necessary.

Obviously, though, I still enjoyed The Thunder of Giants. I think Joel Fishbane is a talented author, both in terms of prose and in research. The historical periods (both of them) were fully realized and immersive, and though the book isn’t brimming with detail, I still found that the setting and time were done justice. Additionally, the two protagonists were well-drawn and interesting, making their separate stories easy to follow along with and enjoy.

[MissSusie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we meet two female giants Anna Swan who worked for PT Barnum during the civil war and Andorra Kelsey who in 1937 is discovered by a talent scout to play Anna Swan in a movie. This was a good story with sparse writing. I’d never heard of Anna Swan before and this was a fascinating look into her life. Some details of course changed for a narrative fiction story and I don't think Andorra existed but she was also an interesting woman.

Neither woman ever wanted to be a star they just wanted to be normal but when you are over 7 feet tall normal is something you will never be. Both stories will break your heart but there is hope and with hope there is life.

The story of Andorra’s mother is tough to read and may go a bit far into gross factor but it is what she had to live with her entire life. Anna Swan being a real person means you can research her real life which was neat because I found a lot about her online ( of course this is fiction so many facts are different).

This book grabbed me right away and was hard to put down so it made it a quick but enjoyable read. There were times the story between these two women flowed nicely and other times it struggled a bit, but this was a good story and that made up for any of the issues with the flow or sparse writing.

Some of the side characters didn’t seem fleshed out as much as one would hope but it also made everyone flawed in some way or another, being normal sized doesn’t mean your life is all flowers and sunshine, and even if both of these women envied their normal sized friends they didn’t have it all together any more than Anna or Andorra. I thought Anna was a very strong woman who really did what she wanted and lived her life on her own terms Andorra tried to do this but things held her back.

I did enjoy this story and I thought this was a very good debut and would read other books this author comes out with.

3 ½ Stars

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher for a fair and honest review.

[Jessica Surgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway*

I'm so glad I received a copy of this book. It was a wonderful story and beautifully written. The real history behind it is fascinating, and while I'm well aware that much of the story is a work of fiction, the fact that it's rooted in truth made it even more interesting to me.

I really loved how everything unfolded. The switching back and forth between Andorra and Anna was a bit confusing at first, but I was still able to follow along easily enough. And I think it was definitely the best way to tell the stories of these two amazing women. Joel not only handled two dynamic main characters, but multiple timelines as well, and he weaved everything together expertly. I was definitely impressed. As Andorra and Anna's lives slowly began to mirror each other, and then ultimately wound together, I became increasingly enthralled and couldn't put the book down. Reading this was like putting together a puzzle. You're given the pieces one by one, and everything slowly starts to come into focus as you aquire more pieces.

I was constantly surprised by where the plot was headed. I love when a book doesn't give away it's secrets too soon, and that was certainly the case here. Every time I'd think I had something figured out, the next chapter would prove me wrong. This was great because I stopped trying to guess what was going to happen and just let the story drag me along for the ride.

I loved everything about this book. The plot was complex and thought-provoking, the characters were well developed and complicated, and the way everything came together was perfect. It also has some great messages about self worth, familial bonds, friendship, and love. It's one of those books that makes you stop and reflect on your own life. It made me think. A lot. Which makes it a winner in my book.

[ExLibris_Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I love books that combine historical facts with fiction, and The Thunder of Giants was such an unusual story, that I couldn’t pass it up. In alternating stores, we read about two “giants” Anna and Andorra, both over seven feet tall, who lived in different centuries. Their lives had many similarities, however. I think I was a little more drawn to Anna’s story, and it was full of both heartache and triumph. Both women were approached by unscrupulous people determined to exploit that which made them different, and both women ultimately had made a living because of their height.

I really enjoyed the way the two stores intertwined. We meet Andorra as she is cast to play Anna in a move about Anna Swan’s life. Anna Swan was a real person, and her story is absolutely fascinating. The real facts of her life fit into the book with some minor embellishments, and the fictional character of Andorra provided a kind of parallel story that provided a more modern version of Anna’s story. Pay attention, though, because as the movie starts to come together, Andorra and Anna intersect more than you might expect. I was touched by the way both women wore their extreme physical differences. They were both intelligent, determined characters who were not always treated well by society. In contrast to Andorra’s struggles, Anna was eventually celebrated as she traveled with several shows. The difference in the way the two women approached and embraced their size created an interesting contrast in the story. Overall, I think I wanted to know more about the two characters. I found myself wishing the book had 100 more pages so I could dive into the lives of these two interesting women.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book blew me away. I was looking for something unique and was always looking forward to this novel due to the unique subject matter. Especially after reading the novel on Mrs. Tom Thumb earlier this year, my anticipation for this one skyrocketed. My expectations were paid in full!

I loved both of our female giantess’, Andorra and Annie. They both faced very similar challenges due to their size and society’s views, but both me them with grace and grit. I liked seeing how each was affected, both professionally and in their personal lives. It was fascinating to see how they built families and careers, some despite their size and some because of it. Both characters had characterizations as large as their bodies and as bright as their show business stars.

How each of these giantess’ lives mirrored each other was also fascinating. Where one thing succeeded for one girl, one thing failed for the other. They both went into show business with varying degrees of success. Each had successful areas in their personal lives when it came to husbands and children. I also was very intrigued by how much their lives intersected and were connected, via people they both ended up knowing and the meetings of Andorra’s ancestor with Anna. Even decades apart, they still touched.

Given the subject matter alone, I’d recommend the book, it’s so unique. But the author has done a grand job in the characterization and storyline departments as well. So even more reason to recommend. Definitely give this one a gander if you enjoy unique historical fiction that sucks you in.

[Jan Pelosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! After reading so many disappointing books lately, it was great finding one so interesting. I love historical fiction as it allows me to learn new information that I otherwise wouldn't have even run across. I found myself stopping to Google all sorts of things while reading this book. I stumbled across this at the library in the "new releases," took one look at it's description, and checked it out. So glad I did.

I would highly recommend this book to my friends, although some may find it a little quirky (but that's me). Plus I only found one typo in this book (one of my pet peeves).

If I ever find myself in Seville, Ohio, I'm definitely visiting Anna Swan's gravesite.

[Tanya Wiles-bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful blend of historical fact and myth The Thunder of Giants tells the stories,of giants, Anna Swan (fact) and Andorra Kelsey. Anna's story takes place in I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was clean and rich in detail and the characters were well developed. I appreciated the strong female characters and thought Mr. Fishbane did a nice job weaving the stories of the Anna and Andorra in a way that kept the reader entertained and yet curious enough to do some independent research on Anna Swan and the famous Barnum's American Museum. Occasionally I felt like the two stories were a little too close, which, in my opinion, made some parts seem repetitious. Overall a very enjoyable read.

[Amye Robb · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are the stories of two giant women who lived a hundred years apart. One worked for P.T. Barnum in the early 1800's and the other went to Hollywood to play the former one in the movies in the early 1900's. I found these stories didn't hold my interest and I had thought they would. They weren't compelling, and I wasn't rooting for these women as their stories played out. I waited for it to get better, but it never did. It missed the mark for me.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book fast and in big chunks in order to keep all the delicious details in mind. I want to read page-turner books -- what happens next!? This is one of those. I love historical fiction and mystery and surprises. The Thunder of Giants does not disappoint!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have loved this book, but I just found it too jerky - I kept forgetting what was happening as it constantly went back and forth, forth and back in time. I honestly had no idea what was happening!

[Aliyah · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was OK. I found the plot kind of moved around a lot, and it was hard to follow anna's story vs. Andorra's.
I dont really know what i was expecting with this book. It wasnt bad, but it wasn't anything interesting. i definitely forced myself to finish reading this

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always knew that my dad had been a life-long fan of the Detroit Tigers, but it wasn't until I read Thunder of Giants which touched on the 1934 and 1935 World Series (in both of which the Tigers played) that I really understood how that came about. Those years he would have been 8 and 9 years old - prime years for a boy of that time to begin to follow professional baseball and to be caught up in the excitement that must have gripped both Detriot and my dad's hometown - the city of Windsor Ontario, just across the St. Clair River from Detroit.

That connection to this book would have been enough to recommend it to me, but it also is the story of real-life 19th century giantess Anna Swan, born and raised in the hamlet of New Annan Nova Scotia, just down the road from the village of Tatamagouche where her museum stands today. Tatamagouche has been my home for the past 16 years and to see it mentioned (many times) in a novel is - well, novel indeed.

The third story strand of The Thunder of Giants is about fictional giantess Andorra Kelsey, on her way in 1937 from her hometown of Detroit to Hollywood to make a movie about Anna Swan.

The timelines seem at first to be linked only by that thin thread, but other connections emerge that bring to life Anna and her husband, extending their timeline into the 20th century.

All in all, an excellent story and recommended reading.

I made a note of a line from the closing page, regarding Anna Swan: "Maybe she would have been happy knowing that today she was no longer the famed Nova Scotia giantess; today she was just another woman who had died." Not around here, she isn't. In these parts, she's still the famed Nova Scotia giantess.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea if this story comes from any historical accuracy; my only knowledge of P.T. Barnum’s circus and it’s participants appears in the form of that Hugh Jackman musical. However, the messed-up idea that an actual human being exploited other people into a “freak show” display can be spread out into multiple mediums, it seems.

In spite of that, Anna Swan’s story (who I believe is a real person? I have no idea) wasn’t as interesting to me as the story of Andorra, names after one of the most underrated sovereign states in the current universe. When I got their similar-sounding names mixed up, I’d just ask myself if I really /cared/ about where the story was going, and then I’d figure it out very easily.

I mean, Anna’s story got a cliffnotes summary in Andorra’s story. I don’t necessarily need to go back and time and read what you just said.

The real plot seemed to start and finish in the span of a few pages, which threw me off. Like…I feel this is the opening to a much larger story. Is it a series? I don’t think it is, and even if it was, I’m not sure if it was strong enough to warrant further reading. But the prose itself was nice so I suppose it’s worth two stars. I didn’t hate this book and I don’t have a grudge against it, which is more I can say about some books I read this year.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad to have read this book. It was so interesting from start to finish, it payed off on everything the author set up at the beginning of the novel, and the main characters were both so unique and multi-dimensional it was incredibly easy to dive into their lives. I could easily see these characters each having their own novel unto themselves, as their lives were both so interesting, but the author built the suspense expertly by combining their stories.

My one and only complaint about this book is it seemed to portray the main characters' first encounters with love as something they must suffer for - there was one line about Anna not eating as she no longer had an appetite now that she was in love. But this was also a relatively minor complaint when viewing the book as a whole.

[Kitty Bachman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting subject and I was eager to read this book. However, so much time was spent on what others felt about the women than what they actually thought and felt themselves. I had a difficult time keeping the two women giants separate. Their names were too similar. I would read about the one for awhile and then the book would switch to the other character. Maybe it was my frame of mind but I feel it could’ve been written differently with more details, etc.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two parallel stories about extra large women (one is 7'11", the other slightly less tall) and how they made their way through the world and how their lives intersected. Not until I finished the book did I realize that one of the women, Anna Swan, was a real person from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia.

Although I enjoyed this book, I did get confused a couple of times, with the two different time lines, and the different stories of Anna and Anadorra

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

If shit and piss weren't two very common words used in this story I probably could have pushed it to a 4 star rating. The story itself was pretty interesting, one main character a true person from history and one completely fictional, their stories were similar and yet unique. It was at times confusing with how it jumps back and forth between the two stories and in and out of the past, present and future. All in all not a bad read.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently I forgot to review this one when I read it, which is weird. This one was weird for me. I wasn't really enjoying it until I switched to the audiobook. At which point I fell in love with the characters. I liked the more recent storyline (of trying to be in the movies in the 1930s) but wasn't much of a fan of the other one

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Too many similar characters in a very confusing and overlapping plot. It was a grade less than ok. The characters were interesting, but there were so many there was little space to build them.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little read. Interesting characters, especially Anna Swan. One complaint is that it was hard to keep the narrative shifts apart and tell which section was Anna's and which section was Andorra's. Otherwise I liked it.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all things circus, so I knew I had to read this book. Part of it focuses on the real Anna Swan and her life as a “giant.” It also tells the story of the fictional Andorra Kelsey, another woman who lives a different life simply because she is so tall.

[Lindsey Malick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of two giant women, one real and one fictional, was wonderful. I do wish the author had spent as much time describing Anna and Andorra, as he spent on the men in their lives.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This artfully written book wove two stories together in a beautiful and poetic way, with unexpected twists and a bittersweet ending. A thoroughly enjoyable read.