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It is 1900 and Christie Wheeler's life as the wife of a poor tobacco farmer is about to change dramatically with the birth of quintuplets. As the quins become celebrities and Christie's own life the centre of a grotesque media event, she sets out on a voyage of self-discovery.
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About the Author:
Bobbie Ann Mason is the author of Shiloh and Other Stories, nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award; In Country, Love Life and Spence & Lila. She lives in Kentucky.
From Kirkus Reviews:
Christie and James Wheeler, tobacco farmers in turn-of-the- century Hopewell, Kentucky, and already parents of three, become the most illustrious people of their time and place when Christie gives birth to quintuplets. Her pregnancy was marked by a misdiagnosis of fibroids--and after the birth Christie wonders whether her so liking sex with her husband (as well as being once erotically charged by a preacher's millennial verve) could have contributed to so freakish an issue. But whatever their cause, the five babies demand heroic attention: Christie's milk is nowhere near adequate; a black nursemaid is called in. Also arriving are the curious--from as far away as St. Louis and Chicago. But in a matter of months the babies all die--``wooled to death,'' Christie thinks, from being overhandled by strangers; killed by Negro milk, James prefers to think. In any case, life after the babies grows hard economically as well as sentimentally; when a crop goes bad, Christie and James allow themselves to be suckered into going on a lecture tour (with the five tiny embalmed bodies in a glass case) that degenerates into a carny sideshow and worse. Shaking off their nightmare, the Wheelers finally allow a scientific institute to keep the babies' bodies for research; and the book ends with Christie in old age paying a visit to the Dionne quints. Mason (Love Life, etc.) has a wonderful story here and knows it, but has chosen to tell it so slowly, at such deliberate pace, that only the babies' deaths (and Christie's frantic impotence to stop the dying)--plus some of the freak-show hucksterism on the post-death tour--come over as vivid enough to be indelible. Mason's usually fine dialogue is muffled by historical distance, and the book simply is too long to maintain Christie's painful awe at life's oddness. The theme of exploitation rises foremost, but it's a late one the novel accedes to almost halfheartedly--sociology more cut and dried than the fearful psychology of Christie's grief. (First printing of 60,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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- PublisherTrafalgar Square
- Publication date1994
- ISBN 10 0099388413
- ISBN 13 9780099388418
- BindingPaperback
- Rating
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Feather Crowns
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ISBN 10: 0099388413
ISBN 13: 9780099388418
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Feather Crowns
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Book Description Condition: Good. SHIPS FROM USA. Used books have different signs of use and do not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. All images are Stock Photos, not of the actual item. book. Seller Inventory # 6-0099388413-G
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. Set at the turn of the century, this is the story of Christianna Wheeler, a Kentucky farm woman, who gives birth to the first recorded quintuplets in America. Christie and her babies become both local and national news, even after the death of the children - who are then preserved under glass. Seller Inventory # RWARE0000050898
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Feather Crowns This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780099388418
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780099388418
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Book Description paperback. Condition: Good. Book is in good condition. Slight discolouration to the pages. Seller Inventory # G0265202
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