by Carol Birch This turned out to be a fascinating story, though it started out a little poetic and vague. It took a chapter or two to really get into what was going on, but once the background of the main character, Julia, started coming out, I definitely wanted to keep reading. Julia was born ...
[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley.]This novel is based on the story of Julia Pastrana, a perforrmer and "freak" who lived in the 19th century; more than the typical "woman with a beard", Julia was covered in hair, and had a facial condition that made her look like an ape. Throughout...
Carol Birch’s novel, Orphans of the Carnival, follows the short, strange life of nineteenth century performer, Julia Pastrana. Pastrana sang and danced on stages from New Orleans to St. Petersburg, Russia, but she was most known for her appearance: Pastrana had hypertrichosis and gingival hyperplasi...
Thanks to NetGalley and to Canongate book for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Although I’ve never been to a circus I’ve always been interested in stories, books, films and artworks about the circus. And I’ve never forgotten the movie Freaks (1932) directed by...
2.5 starsWell, I certainly didn't expect that! When I started reading it, I was bored. I thought it will continue to drag on and on. I skipped parts here and there. But then something happened. Something that I wasn't expecting. Something that wasn't boring. Oh, no! That kept my attention for a whil...
Set in Victorian England, this is a well-written tale of a sea adventure that goes terribly wrong. Jaffy Brown is a young street urchin who gets hired on a sea expedition to capture a mysterious dragon. After many profitable months of whaling, the crew goes ashore on a tropical island and actually...
One of my coworkers at the bookstore is a professional storyteller, which is likely responsible for my interest in picking up this book. As being discovered in print is becoming more and more of a needle-haystack problem, one starts to explore other ways of having one's voice heard -- why not a lite...
I kind of hated this four-star book. It has a subtle kind of horror to it that leads the reader to accept as normal some pretty terrifying circumstances and reactions. It takes some chops to pull it off as well as Birch does here. I'd say more, but I really don't like hitting the 'spoilers' button.I...
Jaffy Brown is living a life of squalor on the streets of nineteenth century London, when a close a close encounter with a tiger changes his life forever. The tiger belongs to Mr. Jamrach, an exotic animal trader, who offers young Jaffy a job caring with his animals. It is at jamrach’s that Jaffy me...
Log in with Facebook 
