Fevvers is a famous aerialiste in late Victorian London, who claims to have been hatched from an egg and to have real wings. Jack Walser, an American journalist, sets out to prove that she is a fake and follows her and her circus troupe on a tour through London, St. Petersburg and Siberia. Angela Carter fills the book with clowns, apes, a tiger tamer and a mad Grand Duke, and plays with questions of identity, performance and women's freedom, in a rich, baroque style.
Readers who like magical realism, feminist fiction and language that loves excess will find a funny and inventive novel. It is a good entry point to Carter's work.
Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1984
- Language
- EN
