A nomadic family of circus performers, refugees from Romania, travels through Europe and Africa by caravan. The mothers death-defying act causes constant anxiety for her two daughters, who voice their fears through a grisly communal fairy tale about a child being cooked alive in polentabut their real life is no less of a dark fable, and one that seems just as unlikely to have a happy ending. An actor and performance artist as well as a poet and novelist, Veteranyi was acclaimed for her seemingly artless narrative voice, in which pain and hilarity always vie for the upper handa voice at once lyrical and jaded, prurient and spiritual, comical and horrifying. |