The New York Times Book Review - Rachel Khong
This is an assured debut that doesn't shy away from the task of holding the ordinary and otherworldly in its hand, at once. It's herein that the book's power lies…Fontaine is unafraid to write the ugliness—the imperfect care and love—that takes place between people, and the memoir is most "electric" when it doesn't shy from that imperfection…In the end, The Electric Woman is about probing mysteries to which there is actually no mystery, but also no end. The woman in a box is disfigured, plain and simple; it's an act that purports to be magic, and it is and it isn't. Equally true and mystifying is the fact that we love—it's plain and extraordinary and impossible to put into words. The ways in which mothers and daughters hurt each other, even as they love each other, are in themselves a world of wonder.
Publishers Weekly
★ 01/15/2018
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. (May)
From the Publisher
A New York Times Editors' Choice
A BBC Book to Read in May
A Patch Book You Need To Read in May
A San Francisco Magazine Memoir to Read Right Now
The Interrobang Summer Reading Pick
"An assured debut that doesn’t shy away from the task of holding the ordinary and otherworldly in its hand, at once. It’s herein that the book’s power lies . . . Throughout this narrative is the story of [Fontaine's] relationship with her mother, a story that is sometimes its own hard-to-watch sideshow act. Fontaine is unafraid to write the ugliness — the imperfect care and love — that takes place between people, and the memoir is most 'electric' when it doesn’t shy from that imperfection . . ." —Rachel Khong, The New York Times Book Review
"While caring for her mother following a stroke, Tessa Fontaine became enchanted by the world of the carnival sideshow, learning to charm snakes, swallow swords, and escape handcuffs. What Fontaine finds, as she recounts in her fascinating memoir, The Electric Woman (FSG), is that there's no trick to overcoming one's deepest fears." —Vogue
"Beautiful, disturbing and strange — all combined in one hallucinatory package." —Susannah Cahalan, New York Post
"This is a fascinating, moving memoir about growing up and facing loss, and it also serves as a look behind the scenes at the circus." —BookPage
"This is the story of a daughter and her mother. It’s also a memoir, a love story, and a tale of high-flying stunts. It recounts an adventure toward and through fear as Tessa Fontaine performs as an escape artist, fire-eater, and snake charmer with the World of Wonders, a traveling sideshow." —Southern Living
"Astounding, amazing, inspiring and a little bit terrifying . . . Fontaine’s circus adventures are nicely juxtaposed against her mother’s long journey of recovery, as both women learn to overcome their fears and meet life’s challenges." —Laurie Hertzel, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Marvellous . . . [Fontaine's] account of her coming-of-age summer on the road is filled with small miracles." —BBC
"Vivid and hallucinatory, joyful and disturbing—one of the most creative memoirs I’ve encountered." —Susannah Cahalan, The New York Post
"Chronicles of Fontaine’s frequently strange experiences with the carnival are interspersed with poignant reflections on the bonds shared by mother and daughter." —San Francisco Chronicle
"The Electric Woman is a story of loss, love and acceptance, of learning to overcome one's fears and insecurities and of letting go of what was in order to accept what is. She shows readers how to live each day to the fullest despite obstacles—or perhaps, because of them." —Shelf Awareness
"If you've ever dreamed of running away to join the circus, this is the book you need to read." —Patch
"After her mother suffered a terrible stroke, leaving her severely incapacitated, the author ran off to join the circus, where she ate fire, handled a boa constrictor and even swallowed swords. Fontaine braids these experiences, of losing her mother and performing in a sideshow, into an elegant narrative." —Watertown Daily Times
"Honest and emotionally vulnerable . . . In this memoir that seamlessly balances grief, loss and wild-eyed determination, Fontaine makes a compelling case for using fear as an unexpected gift."
—BookPage
"A fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at carnival life, and an ode to unconditional love." —Erin Kodicek, Omnivoracious
"Fascinating . . . This remarkable, beautifully written memoir explores the depth of mother-daughter love and the courageous acts of overcoming fear and accepting change."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"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." —Booklist
"Fontaine smashes together two distinct memoirs, one focused on grieving her mother’s prolonged illness and death, the other her unlikely, brave’n’crazy season as a small-time carnival performer . . . As exciting as the snake handling, card tricks, and “secret rituals” of the carnival’s insides are, it is the grinding journey of mom-grief that will resonate with readers . . . Take a walk on the wild side, why dontcha?"
—Library Journal
“In a word: wow. I read The Electric Woman in a hallucinatory fever filled with hospital beds and carnival rides, gray eyes and biting boa constrictors, brain bleeds and headless bodies, fire eaters and electrified women. Tessa Fontaine is a real-life snake charmer—her writing hooked and hypnotized me from page one. I had to read just one more chapter, just one more until I reached the end of her extraordinary memoir, dismayed that it was over but so grateful for the unforgettable ride.”
—Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire
“Somewhere between knives and fire beats the heart of a young woman daring herself to live. In her memoir, The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine weaves her way through a mother-death story and a daughter-coming-alive story against the backdrop of America’s last traveling sideshow. There are so many ways to bring ourselves back to life. So many people along the way who become our secular guardian angels. This story is a breathtaking, fire-eating, heart-stopping, death-defying thrill.”
—Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Book of Joan
“This is a memoir like no other. One in which reinvention means starting out as a heartbroken girl and becoming a fire eater, a snake charmer, an escape artist, an electric woman. These are not metaphors, and yet again they are: expertly developed, sustained, and revealed in intensifying and sometimes terrifying complexity, as Tessa Fontaine enters, embraces, and finally allows herself to be transformed by the carnival’s World of Wonders and the unforgettable cast of characters who calls the sideshow home.”
—Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted
“Yes, I have done it. I have run away to the circus, a realm of wonder, harsh reality, and colorful characters, vividly described by a remarkable writer who pulls off her own high-wire act with honesty and abandon, moving from loss to delight. In The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine is an escape artist determined to detonate the grim reality of mere existence, taking us on the most original journey I can remember in a recent memoir. As she moves through guises and adventures, she learns how to become the woman her mother loves and the person she didn’t think she could be: her own marvelous self.”
—George Hodgman, author of Bettyville
“A beautiful and ferocious book, The Electric Woman comes packed with magnificent stories of carnival tricks, transcending the limits of the body, and the bravery of survivors and caretakers. Yet, somehow no marvel is more wondrous than the writing itself. Fontaine's memoir is a brilliant testament to family, grief, love, and the astonishing trick of being—and feeling—alive.”
—Annie Hartnett, author of Rabbit Cake
“The Electric Woman is a love story, a coming-of-age, a brilliant exploration of discovery by a young woman ultimately set free by the flames of fire.”
—Leslie Zemeckis, author of Goddess of Love Incarnate
“With fearless grace and piercing intensity, Tessa Fontaine juxtaposes the thrill of eating fire with the luminous mystery of her mother’s devastating strokes and harrowing transformations. I have never read a book more tender or more true. We all live in a World of Wonders, a world of terror. The Electric Woman delivers us to the potent mercy of unmitigated love, the passion of shared suffering, the resilience of the spirit, and the ecstasies of our transfigurations. The heart breaks, and breaks open—in the divine light of despair, we discover radiant joy: the hidden holiness of every breath, every being, every moment.”
—Melanie Rae Thon, author of Sweet Hearts
AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile
With the crisp, slightly gravelly voice of someone who eats fire for a living, author Tessa Fontaine narrates her powerful, heartfelt story about transformations, loss, mothers, and daughters. Fontaine dives into the colorful unpredictability of life in the circus to recover from caring for her mother after a major stroke. The amusing cast of characters who are part of Fontaine's "carny" life with the World of Wonders adds levity to the emotional powerhouse of her complex family relationships. What Fontaine lacks in vocal diversity between her male and female characters she makes up for with careful diction and a steady tone, even while recounting emotionally raw moments of overcoming her own fears and the worst moments of her mother's hospitalization. E.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-03-03
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.
