Review: Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch
I picked this one up randomly at my library because I liked the cover and the promise of a carnival setting. It details the story of Julia Pastrana, a young woman in the 19th century freak show scene. Julia was born in Mexico an abandoned by her mother due to her excessive hair growth. She was taken in by the local governor, but when propositioned by a showman to be his main attraction she leaves Mexico and starts a touring life that continued until her death. The book is based on the true story of Julia Pastrana, a so-called “bearded woman”. In reality she was probably suffering from what we now know as hypertrichosis, a condition that left her entire body and face covered with hair. In the book we follow her as she tours the world becoming a major attraction wherever she goes. But in reality she longs for a quiet family life and hopes to achieve this one day. The dream seems about to come true when her manager decides to propose marriage to her ...