The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts

By Tessa Fontaine

‘Every day we put fire and swords and electricity into our bodies, throw knives at them, contort them, wrap them in snakes, and every day we wake up sure those things won’t harm us but also sure that there is so much else that will.’

When her mother had a series of strokes, Tessa Fontaine couldn’t stand to watch her mother disappear. The Electric Woman tells Tessa’s story of joining America’s last travelling freak show, and learning to perform death-defying acts in order to come to terms with her mother’s illness. In her life-affirming memoir, Tessa finds hope and companionship among sword swallowers and snake charmers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandstone Press
• Release date: May 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781912240210

Tessa Fontaine

Tessa Fontaine is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts, which was named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers choice, and a best book of the year by Southern Living, Amazon, Refinery29, and the New York Post. Her writing can be found in Outside, Glamour, AGNI, and The Believer. She has been a sideshow performer, a shoe saleswoman, and a professor, and she taught for years in jails and prisons. She cofounded and runs the Accountability Workshop with the writer Annie Hartnett. Raised among the redwoods of Northern California, she now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, goofy dog, and sassy cat.

Reviews for The Electric Woman

[quondame · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love, courage, living and what it takes. Tess's mother has survived a horrendous bleeding stroke and multiple complications and with her step dad is taking her to Italy while Tess is working a season in a carnival sideshow. Due to a divorce when she was too young to have clear memories Tess does not trust her mother's love and denies love in return, at least outwardly. Her mother's stroke has blown away her hope of a verbal resolution, but not all hope and her stint as a sideshow performer is her act of courage and resolution, which like all challenges reveals more than expected.Well written, well paced, and teaming with personalities and life this is a rare journey.