The family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar

This is an unsettling story centred on the life of a circus performer whose physical peculiarities (perhaps based on a real genetic condition) have made her to be a show highlight in her family’s circus. At a time in the history of USA’s desire for entertainment and titillation, the circus run by Arturo Fortuna, ringmaster extraordinaire, was like fireworks in a dark sky. His family, and the adopted family of clowns, roustabouts, performers, dancers and curiosities, would travel the country seeking new ways to delight or shock their audiences. But it is a competitive business, and they must always be seeking new ways to capture an audience. In this environment we follow Avita, the young girl whose ugliness and physical strangeness has made her draw an audience. Gently evocative and distressing, we follow the pain and the triumph of her place in the spotlight. 

This story is hard to read because it is emotionally sharp and uncomfortable. The family relationships are tarred with greasepaint and dysfunction, and they struggle to be seen in healthy ways.  The idea that adults could use their own children as ‘bait’ to attract a crowd of paying customers in ways that would almost be considered abusive, is distressing, but surprisingly we sometimes can still see their love behind the tent flaps. But this is set in 1870s circus life and The Greatest Showman reminded us that this was a precursor to our contemporary entertainment industry, and the ‘This is Me’ identity theme resounds in this story too. Avita both honours and struggles with her distorted, shocking, bird-like appearance. She also respects and yet struggles with her relationship with her father, the flamboyant ringmaster and circus director.  I don’t know if I love this story; it certainly is confronting in its content, and yet there is something compelling about Avita. Written with the different perspectives of other family members, we get glimpses of the dysfunction of the family from different angles, but as with every travelling circus, their spotlight moves on quickly. This is hard to recommend, but it is darkly compelling.  15+

Themes: Circus, Family relationships, Normal and abnormal, Entertainment, Identity, LGBTIQ.

Carolyn Hull