The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar
Jun. 24th, 2024 12:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Come to the circus.
Scream at the monster.
Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita Fortuna was born to be a star. Her show sells out nightly and every performance incites blood-curdling screams. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his portrayal of her.
Avita is much more than razor-sharp teeth and ruffled feathers - and she’ll risk everything to prove it.
It’s July 1889 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Family Fortuna’s circus is in town, one of the most popular to tour the southern United States and a true family affair. It’s owned by the charismatic ringmaster, Arturo who knows exactly what the punters want and how to give it to them, assisted by his wife Quinn who once performed a famous sharp shooter actor but after an accident, took over managing the pig races.
Their eldest daughter, Luna is the duchess of the kootchie tent - slim and beautiful with long, electric white hair she inspires desire in every man who sees her, especially when she strips down in the Tent of Wonder. His son Lorenzo (Ren) has dwarfism but a curvature of his spine coupled with a bubble in his lung means that Arturo can’t put him in a show and although he is very intelligent and makes sure the preparations are put in place for each show and balances the books, he has never earned Arturo’s respect no matter how hard he tries. But it is the youngest member of the family - 16-year-old Avita - who is the star of the show. Born with a beak and feathers she is brought before the audiences in a cage and her appearance and act is enough to cause screams of horror from all who see her. She lives for that reaction, knowing that it is the key to the circus’s success and her own celebrity.
Everything changes in San Antonio when she sees a handsome young man in the audience who does not react when her cage is unveiled. Annoyed and intrigued, she discovers that his name is Tomás and he’s a gifted artist who moves from circus to circus designing posters for them. More than a little smitten, she persuades Arturo to hire him when they move on.
However something is happening within the Family Fortuna. Tensions are rising and change is coming. Against the wishes of Quinn, Arturo decides to take the circus to the town of Peculiar, only to find that a rival circus has set up before them. With Arturo determined to take his rival down, everything comes to a head, not least as Avita begins to wonder if she should want more than just being a monster for people to scream at …
I feared that Lindsay Eagar’s standalone YA historical novel was going to be bogged down with an obligatory romance element but it’s actually a much more compelling coming of age tale with a melodrama vibe. Avita is a compelling main character whose crush on Tomás makes her chafe against the public perception of her but it’s the family dynamics that held my attention as each member of the family has a reckoning with the brilliant but flawed Arturo.
Reading the blurb on the back of this book I was a little worried that this was going to be one of those YA novels where the main character of Avita only begins to accept herself when a handsome young artist tells her that she’s beautiful. However I’m a sucker for circus stories and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad that I did because this is one of the most interesting YA novels I have read in recent years that’s doubles as a family melodrama and a coming of age story as each of the Fortuna children comes to a decision about their future with the circus.
The story is told mainly through the eyes of 16-year-old Avita who loves the circus and her father, who both spoils her and makes clear that her unusual face is her fortune. She revels in the fear of the audience when she comes out in her cage and has developed an act that accentuates her monstrousness and bestiality. When she first spies Tomás it’s the fact that he does not have the same reaction as others in the audience and his lack of fear that initially offends her but then, when she sees his equally curious reactions to other circus acts (including her beautiful older sister Luna who can make any man fall to his knees) and then his art, she realises that there may be a different way of thinking of herself and then of her act. If you are someone who likes YA romance, then you are going to be disappointed in this because Tomás’s role is solely there to help Avita come to terms with herself and see a different future for herself but it was precisely this omission that made me enjoy it so much. The other thing I liked about Avita is that she is never self-pitying and her friendship with the anachronistically out and proud Fernando (who does the dresses and make-up for the girls in the kootchie tent) comes across as sweet and sincere.
In the second half of the book there are chapters from each of Luna, Quinn’s, Ren’s and Arturo’s points of view, which I thoroughly enjoyed and wished had appeared earlier because they do help to bring additional perspectives on the family dynamic and also complement Avita’s own journey. There is a lot of emotional depth in each of these chapters with Ren’s chapters perhaps being my favourite because Eagar paints him as an incredibly smart, capable young man who can never be truly appreciated by a father who cares only for acts. A scene where he encounters two educated men in a ‘believe it or not’ style museum and sees a chance to impress them with his own book learning only for Arturo to brashly interrupt honestly broke my heart. Particularly good is the fact that Eagar does not take his story where you think it is going to go, there was a neat twist at the end - which is also heartbreaking - but it lays the foundation for a satisfying ending for him.
Arturo is the character who looms over everyone else and Eagar has created a compelling and complex monster. On the one hand, he exploits his children to make money and horrifying though his treatment of Ren and Avita is, it’s the fact that he saw his eldest daughter Luna’s beauty and turned her into a stripper and prostitute that disturbed me the most. Everything about him is directed at creating magnificent spectacles and he is addicted as much to the admiration of the crowds as he is to getting their money. And yet he does love his wife Quinn and he does love Avita, to the point that you realise at the end that he exploits the monstrous side of her because he sees it as a way of protecting her.
My one complaint about the book is that there are some historical anachronisms in the story - the kootchie girls wear 20th century kitten and stiletto heels while the roustabouts erect the tents with nylon 50 years before it was invented. It’s unlikely that teenage readers are going to spot this and you could argue that given there’s a fantastical element to Avita’s appearance, you should overlook it, but it did take me out of the story and it bothered me because it’s so easy to have picked this up and change it before publication.
That said, I genuinely found this to be a well executed, satisfying historical melodrama and I cared about all of the characters. It’s one of the most original YA novels that I have read in recent years and as such is one that I would definitely commend to you.
The Verdict:
I feared that Lindsay Eagar’s standalone YA historical novel was going to be bogged down with an obligatory romance element but it’s actually a much more compelling coming of age tale with a melodrama vibe. Avita is a compelling main character whose crush on Tomás makes her chafe against the public perception of her but it’s the family dynamics that held my attention as each member of the family has a reckoning with the brilliant but flawed Arturo.
THE FAMILY FORTUNA was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.
Scream at the monster.
Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita Fortuna was born to be a star. Her show sells out nightly and every performance incites blood-curdling screams. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his portrayal of her.
Avita is much more than razor-sharp teeth and ruffled feathers - and she’ll risk everything to prove it.
It’s July 1889 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Family Fortuna’s circus is in town, one of the most popular to tour the southern United States and a true family affair. It’s owned by the charismatic ringmaster, Arturo who knows exactly what the punters want and how to give it to them, assisted by his wife Quinn who once performed a famous sharp shooter actor but after an accident, took over managing the pig races.
Their eldest daughter, Luna is the duchess of the kootchie tent - slim and beautiful with long, electric white hair she inspires desire in every man who sees her, especially when she strips down in the Tent of Wonder. His son Lorenzo (Ren) has dwarfism but a curvature of his spine coupled with a bubble in his lung means that Arturo can’t put him in a show and although he is very intelligent and makes sure the preparations are put in place for each show and balances the books, he has never earned Arturo’s respect no matter how hard he tries. But it is the youngest member of the family - 16-year-old Avita - who is the star of the show. Born with a beak and feathers she is brought before the audiences in a cage and her appearance and act is enough to cause screams of horror from all who see her. She lives for that reaction, knowing that it is the key to the circus’s success and her own celebrity.
Everything changes in San Antonio when she sees a handsome young man in the audience who does not react when her cage is unveiled. Annoyed and intrigued, she discovers that his name is Tomás and he’s a gifted artist who moves from circus to circus designing posters for them. More than a little smitten, she persuades Arturo to hire him when they move on.
However something is happening within the Family Fortuna. Tensions are rising and change is coming. Against the wishes of Quinn, Arturo decides to take the circus to the town of Peculiar, only to find that a rival circus has set up before them. With Arturo determined to take his rival down, everything comes to a head, not least as Avita begins to wonder if she should want more than just being a monster for people to scream at …
I feared that Lindsay Eagar’s standalone YA historical novel was going to be bogged down with an obligatory romance element but it’s actually a much more compelling coming of age tale with a melodrama vibe. Avita is a compelling main character whose crush on Tomás makes her chafe against the public perception of her but it’s the family dynamics that held my attention as each member of the family has a reckoning with the brilliant but flawed Arturo.
Reading the blurb on the back of this book I was a little worried that this was going to be one of those YA novels where the main character of Avita only begins to accept herself when a handsome young artist tells her that she’s beautiful. However I’m a sucker for circus stories and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad that I did because this is one of the most interesting YA novels I have read in recent years that’s doubles as a family melodrama and a coming of age story as each of the Fortuna children comes to a decision about their future with the circus.
The story is told mainly through the eyes of 16-year-old Avita who loves the circus and her father, who both spoils her and makes clear that her unusual face is her fortune. She revels in the fear of the audience when she comes out in her cage and has developed an act that accentuates her monstrousness and bestiality. When she first spies Tomás it’s the fact that he does not have the same reaction as others in the audience and his lack of fear that initially offends her but then, when she sees his equally curious reactions to other circus acts (including her beautiful older sister Luna who can make any man fall to his knees) and then his art, she realises that there may be a different way of thinking of herself and then of her act. If you are someone who likes YA romance, then you are going to be disappointed in this because Tomás’s role is solely there to help Avita come to terms with herself and see a different future for herself but it was precisely this omission that made me enjoy it so much. The other thing I liked about Avita is that she is never self-pitying and her friendship with the anachronistically out and proud Fernando (who does the dresses and make-up for the girls in the kootchie tent) comes across as sweet and sincere.
In the second half of the book there are chapters from each of Luna, Quinn’s, Ren’s and Arturo’s points of view, which I thoroughly enjoyed and wished had appeared earlier because they do help to bring additional perspectives on the family dynamic and also complement Avita’s own journey. There is a lot of emotional depth in each of these chapters with Ren’s chapters perhaps being my favourite because Eagar paints him as an incredibly smart, capable young man who can never be truly appreciated by a father who cares only for acts. A scene where he encounters two educated men in a ‘believe it or not’ style museum and sees a chance to impress them with his own book learning only for Arturo to brashly interrupt honestly broke my heart. Particularly good is the fact that Eagar does not take his story where you think it is going to go, there was a neat twist at the end - which is also heartbreaking - but it lays the foundation for a satisfying ending for him.
Arturo is the character who looms over everyone else and Eagar has created a compelling and complex monster. On the one hand, he exploits his children to make money and horrifying though his treatment of Ren and Avita is, it’s the fact that he saw his eldest daughter Luna’s beauty and turned her into a stripper and prostitute that disturbed me the most. Everything about him is directed at creating magnificent spectacles and he is addicted as much to the admiration of the crowds as he is to getting their money. And yet he does love his wife Quinn and he does love Avita, to the point that you realise at the end that he exploits the monstrous side of her because he sees it as a way of protecting her.
My one complaint about the book is that there are some historical anachronisms in the story - the kootchie girls wear 20th century kitten and stiletto heels while the roustabouts erect the tents with nylon 50 years before it was invented. It’s unlikely that teenage readers are going to spot this and you could argue that given there’s a fantastical element to Avita’s appearance, you should overlook it, but it did take me out of the story and it bothered me because it’s so easy to have picked this up and change it before publication.
That said, I genuinely found this to be a well executed, satisfying historical melodrama and I cared about all of the characters. It’s one of the most original YA novels that I have read in recent years and as such is one that I would definitely commend to you.
The Verdict:
I feared that Lindsay Eagar’s standalone YA historical novel was going to be bogged down with an obligatory romance element but it’s actually a much more compelling coming of age tale with a melodrama vibe. Avita is a compelling main character whose crush on Tomás makes her chafe against the public perception of her but it’s the family dynamics that held my attention as each member of the family has a reckoning with the brilliant but flawed Arturo.
THE FAMILY FORTUNA was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.
