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- 5 May, 2010: Reviewed
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno
by Ellen Bryson
Bartholomew Fortuno, the World's Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P.T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum - a modern marvel of macabre displays and live performances by Barnum's cast of freaks and oddities - Fortuno has reached the pinnacle of his career. But after a decade of solid performance, he finds his contentment flagging. When a carriage pulls up outside the museum in the dead of night, bearing Barnum and a mysterious veiled woman - rumoured to be a new performer - Fortuno's curiosity is piqued. And when Barnum asks Fortuno to follow her and report back on her whereabouts, his world is turned upside-down. Why is Barnum so obsessed with this woman? Who is she, really? And why has she taken such a hold of the hearts of those around her?
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno is a moving novel about human appetites and longings, exploring, in pitch-perfect prose, what it means to be profoundly unique - and demonstrating love's ability to transcend even the greatest divisions.
`A rich tapestry of romance, illusory science, criminal trickery and human intrigue. Let the show begin' Kirkus
`Magically transports the reader back in time to Gilded Age New York. Fans of Water for Elephants are sure to want to enter this wondrous midway attraction of a novel' Publishers Weekly