The novel explores how Peggy Cort, a librarian and "old maid", falls in love with one of her patrons, the world's tallest Man, James Sweatt.
[2] The Literature, Arts and Medicine Database described the novel as also successful reflecting on the dehumanizing treatment of "freakish" medical conditions.
The New York Times gave mixed reviews to the " fractured fairy tale" of the novel, praising the prose where McCraken "unpacks her metaphors with the intensity of a poet", but describing the plot as "melodramatic".
But the premise is so engaging and the narrator so likable one can forgive a kind of slackness in the book's body.
"[4] Kirkus Reviews describes the novel as "A promising idea, ultimately disappointing in execution: McCracken's first novel lacks the one aspect vital to its success- -concern for the lovers.