The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar Wesley Jacques Eagar, Lindsay The Family Fortuna. Candlewick, 2023 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780763692353 $19.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 Arturo Fortuna is one of the greatest showmen alive, and the Family Fortuna traveling circus has wowed audiences from "Texas to Tacoma" by way of his charisma and the labor of his children: a singularly beautiful daughter showcased to gawkers in the kootchie tent, a dwarf son with a knack for bookkeeping, and Avita, the show-stopping Bird Girl, whose feathered strangeness is, according to her often persuasively callous father, "worth a thousand whores." When the Fortunas return to Peculiar, a late nineteenth-century American desert town, a rival circus and longstanding riffs in the family's exploitation and spectacle-focused dynamic present a turning point for the maturing daughters, frustrated son, pious mom, and deeply [End Page 255] flawed father alike. Narrator Avita falling for a traveling artist brings about a particular shift of the status quo in a richly compelling story about sympathetic, queer, and remarkable carny folks that consistently delivers earnest and heartfelt camp. Eager's punchy, funny prose never falters, and Avita's relatable development—sexual and otherwise—alongside her siblings' pursuit of some semblance of independence from the large, looming figure of their father cleverly reshapes concepts of beauty, seduction, and coming-of-age. Readers will want to grab tickets to this thoughtful, provocative read. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois