Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Tonic and Balm
Tonic and Balm
Tonic and Balm
Ebook239 pages3 hours

Tonic and Balm

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

It's 1919, a time when traveling medicine shows can still find audiences eager to buy miracle "cures" and watch old-fashioned variety acts onstage. Stephanie Allen's novel Tonic and Balm follows one such troupe, Doc Bell's Miracles and Mirth Medicine Show, as it winds through Pennsylvania, struggling to stay afloat amidst internal discord and dwindling revenues.
Doc Bell's show, which features both black and white performers, includes a song-and-dance team whose marriage is fraying, a sword-swallower and her charming but fickle lover, and a medical doctor in a downward spiral of alcoholism. Performers and crew alike are caught off-balance when the show takes on a new addition, a young woman with hydrocephaly, who finds herself cast into a dismaying role as a sideshow exhibit.
Set against a backdrop of rural poverty and a wave of anti-black violence, Tonic and Balm examines the tenuous solidarity and shifting alliances of people on the fringes of society.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherBookBaby
Release dateFeb 5, 2019
ISBN9780998463445
Tonic and Balm

Read more from Stephanie Allen

Related to Tonic and Balm

Related ebooks

Historical Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Tonic and Balm

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Tonic and Balm - Stephanie Allen

    )2^book_preview_excerpt.htmlu\˒HhTU&YI-jGf$$N{/YwH,͘ʹ۾^}'z/8E^I]>?~Sy'~/ߞCh1KoX]¸;ƼcaP~zR]~Nm]KC]uiLC5T/1tնitUM54t~L bk&Ttt }TfKu4>Xx =>MSu]…2u[}ci|3]z< W]dg[!m0VC ]0V'iM#_B4&u0Y״J[zVncb0ئj$/Z}FcOv0yjۈFs`N0cWK8Ż=36}V[z-d=+qb^Wpűt9406”#SݰshI1equU]p^\E|1-p佧t%\u'޻j~-7c-Cd1laFngn Qs=X\wȰ<|RfO]K#n62th} ={NwY8<۽xw◱8tvW4!b7ݘ0w [^}j<0oP軌E |R㒉B,xpq7m3{hH qېGaܠkd& ,# ݆\@Wm|s1 /15G/&So Y{\Wk`>:Oj%= @Ė23m9 [At,o4bHp_WxAVk۰?rkW~{t> W&čG>.!+>n7:6]te=G`7/c7|Gz"Я!v8bzu}!荇TF>C&c_:'KDa@Jϋ|vgjDv|~LCJO[35;"6>$[ Xm1~ڈ &AAF*)Eo;q?:آwǀ䐏'/ G&9wAÙ;M s$ q+61]̸xXcQ: sڦے@9)X5\ I960|6JIa,M_5.ד},'UtߙDę_dt}oxƵ;s%sCPwc|U}Aboqx߽n[9p˥gq-m0?m0vs2GKpe.k,g\җ_8 ̈(iHw_@jK7fL"voOXţ ="GEj, p/LJ_|x37V_mEjqS5V4HH۔0k.5- Y p%2l2 >N@St [u;fˋ踫Wep<&F&+*1\ ]KmƂ8gtBg@cꐱ*9V-E\L{ΧζP o,C'rAc50,c=]3B\,a rU=p!xKlk$l eL +0 Χ'>3SZ ;"סx`joWx5e[ؽ9Y?4|@bcHS%pqIckV\ \+zqU;^0^>5kauUr@¿S:_Uۥ& $)}BqOR!S1r]MQh MkxZ(v883j 9U:$>Ʉat&VbwuH(߲1 kgZ{nwZ5ZKF( q8DYq p~fk+ naɆQB oQn])z2|B!d?_>HsS߽w!MMY#!R|p@Go\JϪ-[k)T?zctDrj-A[\ù7T璧dU4fGG?RșҐ |6U3#hnvl#~N5.` ;)rمF)+*@_UB h6~|~&Ԥnu` MLȫPR:9r Y d)A fJSpu׶gkmpl.r+R]ʹ-J, >m+尻IȶV)"#&Yʭ&0`vOGQ P찕>OG~]OTxvв~Vuo2cEJƒ(ȕpZSUڟHUIm-_ @j>!_ O v̒ P~V̓$;.!R3L,XSFt!L {-JVf9ՁHݬg<> :zg98 n? >9m#NkY#F Rh)l1ZZB{z & -gET٫+>3 \zV >b4ncb\趑Z$)Pw4|P>bw) Xrg7տ뫰n֍χϿ޿Oo<10rv7.4u QȁihRnƫIZQ1,L rYJ&2p?uq,ꁮ^Stq8qpߣњ4y#BE>H"SDn Q} b)acFDޓp8$UVtz`!P< *[bQ؄b*hEi^ڱ|K&],ơѻp;fa5a*G2LAs*C4iZ.3SP ^)GYX׹ج-{GTki8RqRQ4c@7jKB˙\2Lh"y[x#(l=nYVj]BM:ؒ{QQc,6$)R5qzmFLoyI\Qlu,4/nS[ w9B3mY|r8vٯQ\G>y.ACqxynH0~*^]Uv[!gOIt^yCjU0e#̈JZ_K{+JƱ&j=|"U-96 sG4}Y!Kl߻m[АIf!\.54ոMF&dPG` x`^mXafjի1dV1^"≮M`X$D!x|~0Y|#vpU%ŝZeXP,O1ϩ 5-jOK$8];t-h=C@oӖ3\e+?$d*n l8O^co|5qBe h\C-E e!\}ykqDR$? 7GfMULceHN:i)Vizqw.7= ѓJ{j&Wqo[ZAcjsګmA2Vkc#y^E>IX q}s"Hi”Ɏ)6r$~U+:f,>F&q|̹śBlq>Z1 =W$ˆۭkVҴ ?;Ta*|*Ecc»'yKQygdXijr"Ҹ%_JdIqGзDPI> ړ%&OAq=iگ57_J2WK3ZGZaջڶg6/>j'WÀMF-#;۫Wvl+\8mH1ۨA7O[gEgh_F<3;hp3]7ޭ^hj"&~g0c[ XBdqLqʺLEZ[]F7hwⶃջh[ `s(3Oa_MRnXOP($[[76BgM}[WcEx=z0qRv[;I |wuo-sҡQBәIU uFQIƫYx1}ϾHAKkUICxccS]%S &+s\j6ۋ )T1C#qk'&`fo->:/6Uw%'Ԃw,hXnu"%W~-ctk|"7Z^ʍ`6^7h.46Dtqg'&>#ջ9oϊ+ T\luc{dQqahvxGU#0;jv*E$pH5d|H T0),,$㯰kH.S $ 3go'yl LWAS.ouNR .Z$+-}"!_ݷWG{h :oU( hhv3+I fR& QSHv23_&~ynROx ։[ :xBP=4v"}W}V5q&::.ӝ ˜@u֮u^_f)QmЕs^T\|v;13g&7nI'Ub ;v8yUAY}u`9)~?q UdUTeϩD `o6kFb`ߋ,oTjp lioQCB.!k*OKs>=J[* AAo-o!e2|ꩃ S v[Bju1oK7t&V2jFp\G>$F|$-YˬZAA;X=4LXΠuV$?|~+$'܃wqwHm)9vj^iE&yMOjy6e~5 ;͌,=d٭qO=Sja.Wfj&.~ݎ:"ٱgu$G݆ Aeq )EJ&͓ymҥ2f,O]h)y7j ze ־f vbhn24 N-W az4nY~,v@/Ξ9(OUAc)UXDrJBZ#jc'+ә'S !yFOԁhtDoI%>9lWC3\yQt awlYtfxgr8fg8"awKScQiX+c6Dc9+KGM%e( ~K]Շ_(fۈ /g9NW"Vde띄3G8|2>[m^=,D-Ǥ4X*bS<<"̨%" ׍aMܻvĆAdȀv%?ef9??˻q倝j{&6\?Y`$UsoFS˕!λ8}q<(UkX}6^9{94CIjqScMjm,iNhw6?]J`Ӫ#6w$8o1ex!xC܋gaO"ie9*lĺ$i2^hVX^RmRN8p5Uv a?$XcMwxaV݈l6e9+XpIȱxRQb<.Ga.WBq?3Σ>Z98aZ޴/˱2P |*Y@1_XW~i9̓13u2Ddt6`SFu|3O3 &iX ?y~'˕c=5;v?bл2ᛧ^'Z|Th!TvF>#o+{(Gp/4ʜ2zې7]hG9<(<ܾ_J_~GRw<&p/'4x:Ͼӗi8 OtZkPY&^hġ\ؽ
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1