Items related to The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
Mabel Stark was the greatest female tiger trainer in history. In the 1910s and 20s, when circus was the most popular entertainment in America, she was the biggest attraction for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.Mabel was five-feet tall, brazen, suicidally courageous, obsessed with tigers and sexually eccentric. In The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, Robert Hough has used the documents of her life to explore the mysteries of her heart. His vibrant and moving fictional autobiography starts in 1968. Mabel is just turning eighty and is about to lose her job. Faced with the loss of her cats, she looks back on her life, her escapades and her tragedies, her love affairs with tigers and men. She also confronts her darkest secret, her guilt at committing, 'the worst thing one person can do to another.' Now, with the end of her life in sight, there is one thing above all else she needs to do. Mabel Stark wants to confess. Exuberant and inventive, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark transports its readers to an age before cinema and television, when circus performers were superstars. It is a delightful novel and an unputdownable biography of a gloriously idiosyncratic life.
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From the Back Cover:
“Robert Hough pulls together fact and fiction to unfurl a life that invites sheer, slack-jawed fascination.” -- Lynn Coady, Time
“The frame story, of an octogenarian Stark in danger of losing her job at the JungleLand wildlife park, is reminiscent of both The Stone Angel and The Stone Diaries.” -- The Vancouver Sun
“Robert Hough pulls together fact and fiction to unfurl a life that invites sheer, slack-jawed fascination.” -- Time
“A marvelous debut…narrated with delicious humour and warmth. Just about perfect. One of the most entertaining novels in many a year.” -- Kirkus
“Never flagging, the compelling story thunders along like a runaway circus train bearing a dangerous cargo of painful memory, wild animals, grotesque characters and outlandish stories, all told through the distinctive, often humorous, voice Hough creates for his protagonist.” -- The Globe and Mail
From the Back Cover:
“The frame story, of an octogenarian Stark in danger of losing her job at the JungleLand wildlife park, is reminiscent of both The Stone Angel and The Stone Diaries.” -- The Vancouver Sun
“Robert Hough pulls together fact and fiction to unfurl a life that invites sheer, slack-jawed fascination.” -- Time
“A marvelous debut…narrated with delicious humour and warmth. Just about perfect. One of the most entertaining novels in many a year.” -- Kirkus
“Never flagging, the compelling story thunders along like a runaway circus train bearing a dangerous cargo of painful memory, wild animals, grotesque characters and outlandish stories, all told through the distinctive, often humorous, voice Hough creates for his protagonist.” -- The Globe and Mail
“First novelist Roberty Hough pulls together fact and fiction to unfurl a life that invites sheer, slack-jawed fascination. High brings this fiery, bawdy and wildly courageous perfomer vividly and intimately to life and in the process narrates a life story too unbelievable to be anything but true…In this book, [Hough] has created one of the most remarkablem sympathetic and finely rendered characters I have come across anywhere. He gives Stark a distinctive, believable first-person voice with the earthy, no-nonsense attitude one cold expect only from a woman who had spent her life criss-crossing the continent in the company of freaks, grifters, thieves and wild animals…No one’s life sotry — not even Mabel Stark’s — could be so compelling without the deft hadn of a pretty great writer, Robert Hough is himself a very impressive act.” —Lynn Coady, Time
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- PublisherAtlantic Books
- Publication date2003
- ISBN 10 1843541521
- ISBN 13 9781843541523
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages432
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The Final Confessions of Mabel Stark
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Atlantic Books, London
(2003)
ISBN 10: 1843541521
ISBN 13: 9781843541523
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. Fine first printing in fine dustwrapper. An unread, as-new copy. The book is square, tight and unmarked. The dustwrapper is complete. As an enthusiastic collector myself I make every effort to provide a high level of service. Enquiries welcomed. Paypal accepted. Seller Inventory # 008028
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The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
Published by
Atlantic Books
(2003)
ISBN 10: 1843541521
ISBN 13: 9781843541523
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Hardcover
Quantity: 1
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