Ruth describes the tendency to recall major events more easily than mundane occasions, but you were still able to convey the daily tribulations of Ruth’s everyday life: the shoes and clothing that needed to be specially made, the doorways that had to be raised, etc. How did you balance the bigger events with the daily practicalities?
These kinds of details were really essential if the reader was to understand how it would feel to inhabit Ruth’s body—even simple things like holding a pencil, or placing huge feet on ordinary steps. There are so many things we take for granted. It was actually quite a challenge to imagine her physical self—not looking at her, but looking out from her.
Ruth has a special ability to see everything as though from a world above, but we are never given any explanation as to why or how. Why did you leave this part of the novel ambiguous?
I began writing in third person, and then something in me insisted on first person, so that Ruth was telling her own story. I did it by instinct, and every once in a while I’d stop myself because it didn’t make sense for her to be telling us things she couldn’t know. But then I’d push on, because I knew it needed to be that way, even if I didn’t yet know why. Later I realized I was giving Ruth power. I didn’t want her to be a victim. And then of course the idea of her growing throughout her life worked so well with the fairy tales and legends woven throughout the story. The story has magical elements, but is also very grounded in reality. I was always thinking about balancing those two qualities throughout the novel. Ruth’s condition is real. It happens to real people. But stories, even fantastical ones, have always been a way for us to deepen our understanding of being human.
Why did you choose to make the main character a girl rather than a boy?
She was a boy at first! When I made the switch from third to first person, I changed her from Benjamin to Ruth. It struck me that being a girl giant would present more complicated issues around one’s growing body, especially given the years in which the novel is set.
Did any of your childhood experiences find their way into the novel?
Not really, though I’ve stolen from my own childhood for previous books. This time I stole from my daughter, though Ruth isn’t at all modeled on her. When Nellie was little, she used to go up to other children just like Ruth did, curl her arm around their shoulders, and ask, peering at them, “What does your name?” She asked with such genuine care and curiosity that the phrase and the accompanying mannerisms always stayed with me.
Can you tell us about Suzy? She made up stories, manipulated and humiliated Ruth, and yet Ruth still cared for her. Are we supposed to pity Suzy and excuse her behavior because of her unstable family situation?
Depending on their own experiences, people will respond to Suzy differently. My husband was furious with her and wanted her to meet a bad end. Ruth doesn’t feel that way, of course. It’s a question I often like to explore in my work. When is a person accountable for being the person he or she is? We feel sorry for little children trapped with poor role models, and we judge the role models themselves. Though of course once upon a time, they too were little children, caught in a situation beyond their control.
If you could offer Ruth one piece of advice, what would it be?
Hmmm. Somehow I don’t think she needs it.
Why was it important for you to let readers see Ruth as a grown woman in the last chapter of the novel?
I wanted to show that she survived. For me it’s related to the issue of giving her power, making her strong. But she’s not superhuman: she knows she’s vulnerable, and she accepts that vulnerability. As she says in the closing pages, “For now I keep going, like anyone, moving through the years as long as the years will have me.”
Your blog, Blog of Green Gables (www.blogofgreengables.wordpress.com), chronicles your experiences reading children’s literature with your daughter. How have your readings (and your daughter’s reactions) affected your own writing?
My favorite pastime is reading with Nellie, and next on my list is writing about what we read. The essays I do for the blog end up branching out in all kinds of directions. So they aren’t at all book reviews, but little stories about family life, and how a child’s (and a parent’s) world opens up through reading. When I read, be it adult or children’s literature, I’m always thinking about how stories are put together, what works and what doesn’t, and why I feel that way, and it’s fascinating to have those kinds of discussions with a child, too. They are often wiser than we realize!
How much does your daughter know about the story of The Girl Giant? When she’s old enough to read it on her own, what would you like most for her to take away from the experience?
She doesn’t know much about the story itself, but she knows a little about the real people I researched. While I was working on the book, I showed her a picture of the giant Robert Wadlow touching a traffic light, and for weeks after that, she’d mention him whenever we walked beneath traffic lights, stretching her hand up and marveling at how far away they were. I suppose what I’d like her to see in the book is Ruth’s sense of compassion, and her belief that “for everything that is taken away, something else is given.”
What are you working on now?
A book about my grandmother’s life in WWI England. It’s a collaboration with my sister, Tracy Kasaboski, and a companion book to an earlier project, The Occupied Garden (www.theoccupiedgarden.com), which chronicled our father’s childhood in WWII Holland.
About the Author
Kristen den Hartog is the author of the novels Water Wings, The Perpetual Ending, and Origin of Haloes. With her sister, Tracy Kasaboski, she also wrote The Occupied Garden, which chronicles their father’s childhood in WWII Holland. Den Hartog lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and daughter. For more about The Girl Giant, visit www.kristendenhartog.com.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Acknowledgments
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
For Discussion
Enhance Your Book Club
A Conversation with Kristen den Hartog
About the Author
The Girl Giant Page 17
