Bacchanal

Henry’s eerie debut unveils the haunting world behind the scenes of a 1930s carnival. The traveling G.B. Bacchanal Carnival is more than the typical mix of lion tamers and contortionists. This one-of-a-kind operation boasts an interracial cast of tricksters, entertainers, and oddities—and plucky young Black woman Eliza Meeks is determined to join them. Though initially turned away, she’s accepted into the carnival after using her gift for communicating with animals to save an alligator wrestler from becoming gator food during a performance. Now she hopes to use her newfound financial freedom and the mobility of the carnival to search for her missing sister, Twiggy. She leverages her knowledge of the American South to become the person to set the carnival’s course and steer it onto her sister’s trail. But as Eliza learns to love the eccentric group of misfits that are her coworkers, she also learns dark secrets about the carnival, her own abilities, and the history of “her people.” Henry skillfully layers historical realism with fantastic elements to explore the way times of desperation test the ethics of oppressed communities. The rushed ending will disappoint some readers, but the journey there is well wrought. Henry is a writer to watch. [em]Agent: Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc. (June) [/em]