Set during the lingering summer of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair, this magical novel is told in the voice of the actors, hucksters, pick-pockets, and con artists who lurk behind the facades of the renowned ‘New White City’. On the fair’s opening day, ventriloquist Ferret Skerrit plans to hustle up some serious cash performing with his dummy, Oscar. But those plans are quickly waylaid when he lays eyes on the enigmatic Cecily. From that point forward, Ferret is consumed with meeting her and hangs his every hope on the chance that he will see her between her portrayals of Maria Antoinette at the mid-ways Chamber of Horrors. Finally, he arranges a moonlight rendezvous at the swan gondola where he and Cecily launch their unusual, addictive and ill-fated relationship.
This novel brims over with lush and eccentric characters who earn their way in life by the most unusual occupation; pretending to be someone else. Every character is out to make a buck and even their fortune by capitalizing on the hopes and expectations of this international event. In ‘The Swan Gondola’ author Schaffert has created such an intriguing story that is inhabited with complex and colorful characters that now, weeks after I finished the novel, I still think of them and this book. If you decide to read this book and want to read another by this author, the library has ‘The Coffins of Little Hope’ in electronic format.
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