Review
From the book jacket: Young Tessa is a diminutive girl, far too small for
farm work and the object of ridicule by both her own family and the other
children in their isolated Midwestern community. Her father seems to believe in
nothing beyond his crops, certainly not education for his misfit daughter. When
a mysterious, entrancing librarian comes to town, full of fabulous stories,
earthy wisdom and potions for the lovelorn, she takes Tessa under her wing,
teaching her to read and to believe in herself—and a whole new magical world of
possibilities opens up. But even as she blooms, Tessa’s father begins
sexually abusing her. And her mentor carries a dark secret of her own that
finally causes her to drown herself. Tessa runs off, following Mary’s footsteps,
to join the circus as a trapeze artist but she remains haunted by her...
Beyond the Book
Carolyn Turgeon was born in Michigan grew up in Illinois, Texas, Michigan and
Pennsylvania. She studied English and Italian literature at Penn State and
received a Master's in Comparative Literature from UCLA.
Rain Village is
her first novel. She works for a non-profit in New York and lives in Queens.
Carolyn Turgeon discusses Rain Village
A fascinating site about the
circus past and present
Interested in learning the flying trapeze?!
