by Carol Birch
First published 2017
Julia Pastrana speaks three languages and sings beautifully, but her body is covered in hair. Doctors call her part animal. Audiences stare and gasp when she takes the stage. She performs across the world, moving from one theater to the next, always hoping someone will see past her appearance. Then she meets a showman who promises her fame and perhaps something more. He books her in the finest venues. Crowds cheer her performances. For the first time, Julia believes she has found both success and love. But she cannot shake one question: does he care for her as a woman, or does he see her only as his most profitable act? Julia must decide whether this new life represents freedom or simply a more elegant form of captivity.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Africa
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century
352 pages · Paperback · Anchor
Content warnings: body-horror, medical-trauma