The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show
Gore's debut centers around Frankka, a 28-year-old woman who is able to bleed at will from stigmata-like scars on her palms. Orphaned at age four, Frankka first discovered her gift as a child when she prayed for a way to restore her grandmother's failing faith. Frankka now uses her gift in "The Death and Resurrection" show, a small traveling troupe that tours the U.S. performing in various cities, big and small. Frankka is hardly the only oddball in the group--there's a bearded lady and a man who can breathe fire, among the performers--but it is her gift that draws the attention of a Los Angeles Times reporter who writes a piece on Frankka's gift and exposes her to the ire of religious fanatics. Thinking someone in her group has betrayed her, Frankka flees to the woods of California, looking for both an escape from the attention and an answer to her spiritual crisis. Piercing and insightful, Gore's first novel limns one woman's complicated relationship with her religion and her personal faith. -Kristine Huntley, Booklist
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