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Sandstone signs a memoir in death-defying acts

Sandstone Press signs ‘beautiful and ferocious’ American sideshow memoir

Sandstone Press has acquired rights to Tessa Fontaine’s memoir for UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth excluding Canada from Claire Roberts of Trident Media. The Electric Woman will also be published in the USA in May by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

When her mother had a series of strokes, Tessa Fontaine couldn’t stand to watch her disappear. The Electric Woman tells Tessa’s story of joining America’s last travelling freak show, and learning to perform death-defying acts in order to come to terms with her mother’s illness. In her life-affirming memoir, Tessa finds hope and companionship among sword swallowers and snake charmers.

Robert Davidson, Managing Director at Sandstone Press, says: ‘We are delighted to be publishing Tessa Fontaine’s first book. It’s a beautifully written, uplifting memoir, which does not shy away from gritty, unpleasant aspects of life. Tessa has a fascinating, moving story to tell, and we couldn’t be happier than to be publishing it.’

(c) Claire Marika

PRAISE FOR THE ELECTRIC WOMAN

‘With fearless grace and piercing intensity, The Electric Woman delivers us to the potent mercy of unmitigated love, the passion of shared suffering, the resilience of the spirit, and the ecstasies of our
transfigurations.’
-Melanie Rae Thon, author of Voice of the River, Silence & Song, and The 7th Man

‘A beautiful and ferocious book… I loved every page.’
-Annie Hartnett, author of Rabbit Cake

Tessa Fontaine

Tessa Fontaine