1This richly researched collection of linked short stories transports readers to a traveling carnival in the Jim Crow South. We meet the Geek, dancing girls, a carousel operator, several performers displayed as oddities, and the African American laborers who tend them. The final story crosses the ocean, underscoring the power and mystery of unexpected connections. Lyrical descriptions of each character function like a funhouse mirror, providing just enough distance and distortion to see ourselves more clearly. The sharply striated world of a century ago aptly reflects the tensions, divisions, and shared yearning for belonging that mark us as human. It's under the tent that we ultimately find redemption.