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Rain Village (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customers buy this book with Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Tessa is a very small girl in a family of giants. And, much to her family's bewilderment and ridicule, she isn't cut out for farmwork. Instead, Tessa gets a job at the local library, where the enigmatic librarian, Mary, with her stories of the circus and potions for the lovelorn, takes Tessa under her wing and teaches her the art of trapeze flying. When life gets difficult at home and Mary unexpectedly drowns herself, Tessa escapes to the circus. Over time, Tessa finds a home among the circus performers, falls in love with a wonderful man, and becomes a mother. However, when a stranger comes around talking about Mary, all of Tessa's old feelings bubble back to the surface. She must decide between the life she knows or risk it all to follow this stranger, who can lead her to the place that may hold the secret to Mary's death. Turgeon's quirky first novel explores the power of secrets and how happiness is found in searching for truth. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Product Description

Young Tessa is a diminutive girl, far too small for farm work and the object of

ridicule by both her own family and the other children in their isolated Midwestern

community. Her father seems to believe in nothing beyond his crops, certainly

not education for his misfit daughter. When a mysterious, entrancing librarian

comes to town, full of fabulous stories, earthy wisdom and potions for the

lovelorn, she takes Tessa under her wing, teaching her to read and to believe in

herself—and a whole new magical world of possibilities opens up. But even as

she blooms, Tessa’s father begins sexually abusing her. And her mentor carries a

dark secret of her own that finally causes her to drown herself. Tessa runs off,

following Mary’s footsteps, to join the circus as a trapeze artist, where she marries

a loving man and finds a fulfilling life for herself amidst her new circus family.

But she remains haunted by her past. And when a stranger from one of

Mary’s fabulist tales shows up, Tessa risks everything to follow him to Rain

Village, where she might finally discover her mentor’s tragic secret.

A brilliantly evocative debut set in the early part of the 20th century, steeped in

emotional turbulence and down-to-earth wisdom, where a young woman must

reconcile the inner traumas from her past and learn to live in the present in order

to avoid becoming prisoner to her future. Rain Village casts a fabulous spell,

pulling us into a world of mystery and possibility where love, friendship and loyalty

might either destroy or set one free.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Unbridled Books; First Printing edition (October 10, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1932961240
  • ISBN-13: 978-1932961249
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #142,346 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Turgeon
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's Carolyn Turgeon Page

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, Ethereal, Palpable, Joy, December 1, 2006
By Dean Anderson (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
"Rain Village" has a gypsy in its soul, filled with secrets, scents, thrills, chills and suspense, just like every circus should be! The narrator, tiny Tessa Riley, begins to tell her tale of being too small to do chores as a mere girl in a farming family in Kansas and meeting up with Mary Finn, a strange, mystical and almost magical woman that arrived on the scene and would serve as both a mentor and an icon to her.

The story unfolds like a paper flower in water, as the tale of who this woman is, how she is connected to this little girl and what lies ahead for little Tessa in that big world out there is the crux of the story.

The book plays out almost like a grown-up fable, with rich descriptions, evocative phrasing and very real people who just happen to be in a very unique business: the world of the Big Top.

Author Carolyn Turgeon provides a read that's as quick as a human cannonball and as light and lovely as the aerialists she describes. It is a wonderful tale that you'll wish went on at least a little longer.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, evocative page turner, October 16, 2006
By Eric S. (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
Rain Village is both epic and intimate, magical and yet totally real. I just loved this novel. It takes you away the way a good book ought to and so rarely does. I know several people who have read advance copies of Rain Village, and we've all been seduced by its charms. Gorgeous writing, too. I can't wait to see the movie!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Circus Magic!, October 16, 2006
By Joi Brozek (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
A rich portrayal of circus magic, Rain Village is the best kind of page-turning literature, in the tradition of Katherine Dunn's Geek Love and Toni Morrison's Jazz or Beloved. Turgeon's writing is reminiscent of the most awe-inspiring trapeze art--such glittering, seemless, gorgeous prose. You'll fly through this book with the greatest of ease, and finish, wanting more!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless & Masterful: Run away to the circus
I read Carolyn Turgeon's 2nd novel, "Godmother" before reading this, and upon finishing it immediately got "Rain Village" at the library. Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. Boston

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea, Clumsy Execution
This story has all the elements of a great, epic tale. Unfortunately, it reads like a quick outline of this epic story. Read more
Published on May 1, 2007 by PhillyReader

5.0 out of 5 stars fine early twentieth century character study
In Oakley, Kansas, tiny twelve years old Tessa Riley is so small she is unable to help her parents or her three normal siblings with the farm. Read more
Published on March 5, 2007 by Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars First novel triumph
Ms.Turgeon is quite a storyteller.We were skillfully drawn into the life of smallish Tessa Riley and her experiences in the circus, a world not well known by most, and came away... Read more
Published on January 29, 2007 by Mary M. Krinbill

5.0 out of 5 stars "Lyrical"
A novel not about rain or villages so much as it is about a misfit girl and the mysterious librarian/circus performer/aromatic sex siren who rescues her from sullen mediocrity... Read more
Published on November 4, 2006 by Robert Horning

4.0 out of 5 stars (4.5) "All the souls from my past began inhabiting my life like ghosts."


Tessa Riley, an unhappy young girl on a Kansas farm, is limited by her tiny size, living in a family of giants, both in appetite and stature. Read more
Published on October 28, 2006 by Luan Gaines

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Realism at it's best
Rain Village is magical realism at its best. Tessa is a tiny girl raised by farmers, who finds solace first with the town's seductive but outcast librarian, then by running away... Read more
Published on October 11, 2006 by Molly Crabapple

4.0 out of 5 stars "For people like you and me, the world is different"
Twisting and curling and jumping high atop the Velasquez Circus big top, Tessa Riley has come along way from her sheltered life as the reticent girl growing up in the small town... Read more
Published on October 11, 2006 by M. J Leonard

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