The Electric Woman

Starred review from January 15, 2018
In the opening pages of this fascinating memoir, first-time author Fontaine learns how to eat fire. This is just one of several “death-defying” feats she learned during her stint with the World of Wonders, “the very last traveling sideshow of its kind.” Intrigued by illusion and danger, Fontaine—a grad student studying writing—accepted a surprising invitation to join the show. Not only did she yearn for adventure but she also hoped to temporarily escape from assisting her mother after her mother suffered a debilitating stroke. Fontaine segues between hospital visits to her mother in California’s Bay Area and the fantastical world of the carnival, where Fontaine learned to handle snakes, swallow swords, free herself from handcuffs, and eventually master the role of “the electric woman,” lighting light bulbs with her tongue. Traveling state and county fairs, Fontaine shares the unusual stories of her fellow carnival workers, all of whom come across as devoted to the exhausting, grueling, yet inspiring work they do each day. Fontaine explores the history of the carnival (e.g., the first incubators were on display in a carnival sideshow in the early 20th century); its pecking order of performers, carnies, and foodies; its humor and dark underbelly. This remarkable, beautifully written memoir explores the depth of mother-daughter love and the courageous acts of overcoming fear and accepting change.

March 15, 2018
A writer performs in a traveling sideshow tour after spending three years with her mother as she endured a series of debilitating strokes.In her debut memoir, Fontaine explores the power of the mother-daughter bond and the resiliency and marvel of the human body under duress. In October 2010, the author's mother suffered the first of several strokes. She was left severely incapacitated and in the care of her husband, Fontaine's stepfather. Yet in the summer of 2013, at great risk to her health, they set off together for an ambitious trip to Italy, refusing to give in to her physical limitations. On a whim, the author set off on her own adventure, signing on as a carnival performer in America's last traveling sideshow, the World of Wonders. For the next 150 days, she tested her physical endurance and deeply ingrained fears, acquiring skills as a fire eater, snake charmer, and escape artist, among other sideshow feats, and investigating the unique culture and often grueling realities of carnival life. Fontaine is a graceful writer, and her story initially shows great promise as she seamlessly weaves together a chronicle of her often bizarre carnival experiences with poignant memories of her mother before and after her illness. But as the narrative segues into a lengthy day-to-day account of her experiences on the tour, it becomes less urgently involved with her connection to her mother and reads more like a journalistic reporting exercise. Though the author is careful to recount her dedicated immersion within this world, there's an emotional detachment that grows more evident in her encounters with the individuals who inhabit this space. After several weeks on the tour, as the wonders begin to grow thin and somewhat repetitive, the story loses momentum. Though her tale eventually leads to a moving and satisfying conclusion, the journey is unnecessarily arduous.A sometimes-engrossing but overlong memoir about carnival life and family bonds.

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April 1, 2018
Fontaine's trip to Gibsonton, Florida, became much more than a casual glimpse into the lives of the sideshow performers who reside there. Her conversation with Chris Christ of the World of Wonders (the last traveling sideshow in the U.S.) led to an invitation to join it for the summer season?as a performer. Fontaine, 29, quickly agreed and, with no experience to speak of, found herself their new bally girl, meaning that she would perform magic, charm snakes, eat fire, and escape handcuffs to entice crowds to the real show. While the sideshow narrative progresses linearly, another thread devoted to her mother's debilitating stroke two-and-a-half years earlier does not. The reflections on the latter bounce in time, integrating recollections of Fontaine's youth, the stroke itself, and its nightmarish aftermath. They are intercut with Fontaine's experiences on the road, sometimes acting as parallels or counterpoints, sometimes as simple insights into the life she was briefly escaping. Fascinating and heartfelt, Fontaine's memoir brushes with death but, more important, finds life and light in unexpected places, giving value to otherness in an unpredictable world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)