Violet and Daisy : the story of Vaudeville's famous conjoined twins / Sarah Miller.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Schwartz & Wade Books, [2021]Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First editionDescription: 310 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593119730
- 0593119738
- 9780593119723
- 059311972X
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Children's Book
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Dr. James Carlson Library | Children's NonFiction | 616.043 M651 | Available | 33111010676696 | ||||
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Children's Book
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Main Library | Children's NonFiction | 616.043 M651 | Available | 33111010575336 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
From the author of The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets and The Borden Murders comes the absorbing and compulsively readable story of Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins who were the sensation of the US sideshow circuits in the 1920s and 1930s.
On February 5, 1908, Kate Skinner, a 21-year-old unmarried barmaid in Brighton, England, gave birth to twin girls. They each had ten fingers and ten toes, but were joined back to back at the base of the spine. Freaks , monsters --that's what they were called. Mary Hilton, Kate's employer and midwife, adopted Violet and Daisy and promptly began displaying the babies as "Brighton's United Twins." Exhibitions at street fairs, carnivals, and wax museums across England and Scotland followed. At 8 years old, the girls came to the United States, eventually becoming the stars of sideshow, vaudeville, and burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. In a story loaded with questions about identity and exploitation, Sarah Miller delivers a completely compelling, empathetic portrait of two sisters whose bonds were so sacred that nothing -- not even death-- would compel Violet and Daisy to break them.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-300) and index.
"From the author of The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets and The Borden Murders comes the absorbing and compulsively readable story of Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins who were the sensation of the US sideshow circuits in the 1920s and 1930s."-- Amazon.com.
Violet and Daisy were as alike as two flower buds on a single stem. They were also joined, back-to-back, at the base of their spine. In 1908 they were called freaks, monsters. Their mother abandoned Violet and Daisy to the care of her midwife, who immediately put the babies on exhibition in the back room of her pub, embarking on a course of blatant exploitation. They eventually became the most phenomenal success in vaudeville's history. Miller shows that Violet and Daisy were more than just an exhibit: they were two distinct individuals with remarkably harmonious personalities. Above all, they were sisters, whose bonds were so sacred that nothing-- not even death-- would break them. -- adapted from jacket
Lexile by Metametrics.
Part one -- Part two.