About the book

Author: Wood, H. P. (Hilary Poole).

Title: Magruder’s curiosity cabinet.

Publication: Naperville, IL : Sourcebooks Landmark, 2016. ISBN 9781501908415.

DAISY audio format narrated by Nancy Wu. CELA library call number DA52319. 368 pages in the print edition; 13 hrs., 1 min. as a recorded book.

About the story

I had no idea what to expect from this book, and I must say: I’m delighted!

Set in the amusement parks of Coney Island in 1904, the main characters are the sideshow “freaks” and their friends. When a disease starts to spread, they are the first blamed and the most affected by stigma.

There are many “-isms” in this book, and it’s sometimes difficult to read. But it’s important to be reminded about “the bad old days”, and in this book the putative “freaks” are shown as creative, compassionate and the only truly decent folk in the story.

A teenaged English girl’s mother disappears from her hotel room without a trace. Eventually, young Kitty Armstrong finds her way to Magruder’s curiosity cabinet: part museum, part inventor’s storeroom, part saloon.

While horror and chaos descend on the city, Kitty’s new friends band together to survive, find her mother and eventually, to find Kitty herself.

I really couldn’t put this book down, although I had a lot of work to catch up on! So, be warned.

WARNING: Strong language, graphic violence, graphic descriptions of very disgusting things. Blatantly sexist and racist behaviours towards the protagonists, and horrible remarks are directed at the “unusuals” by the “dozens” (as in “dime a dozen”, the so-called “normal” people”). This is hard to read, not the least because the characters are so well-drawn and realistic that the reader’s sympathy is squarely with the “unusual” side.

The narrator, Nancy Wu, is excellent. There are a lot of songs in this book (popular music of the day, mostly). Most narrators would simply read the lyrics, but Ms. Wu sings them, and quite well! It really adds to the reading.

I was unfamiliar with this author, Hilary Poole Wood, but will definitely keep an eye out in future!

At the end, the author discusses what was really real and what was made up, and gives some reading recommendations if you want to know more about Coney Island, the disease, and other topics.

Highly recommended! With strong caveats.