The Family Fortuna

Eagar, Lindsay. The Family Fortuna. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9780763692353.

Born into a circus family at the turn of the 20th century, Avita has always wanted to be more than what she looks like. Her nose and mouth are shaped like a crow's beak, and she has feathers sprouting from her shoulders and neck.  Known as bird girl by the patrons that support the circus, Avita attracts those who seek the freakish. Her tent is always full, and her performances are frighteningly inspiring. But what was fine when she was young is no longer okay as she becomes a teenager. Her father sees her as his prized possession, the most famous attraction from Texas to Tacoma, but ultimately she represents dollars and cents, not the love of a parent. Her mother is feeling detached, her deformed brother is the best accountant this side of Mississippi, and her older sister is a beauty who bares it all every night. The Fortuna family is crippled by their father's oversized ambitions. Avita wants to escape this reality, and shape her own performance, where people won't see her as an object of terror, but as someone who could be loved just like everyone else.

When the Fortuna's circus arrives in Peculiar, Texas, they find that another circus has already set up shop on the prime land reserved for such events. Trying to outdo the competition, Avita's father will stop at nothing to put on the greatest show on earth, but the cost, both in money and to his family, may be more than anyone else is prepared to pay. Avita will have to make a choice, stay with her father and the comfortable, or take a risk and strike on her own, with perhaps having nowhere to return.

Fans of the weird and the bizarre will appreciate this tale of a dysfunctional family like no other. Avita's ambitions drive her forward while her family is holding her back. With happiness always elusive, Avita will play the cards she's been given and hope that she can exceed expectations.