Julia Pastrana

by Sandy Olson

Inspired by real life events, Julia Pastrana is the shocking story of a young woman who, because of her physical appearance, is hurled into the circus sideshows of the 1850's. She soon finds herself rescued from this miserable existence by the handsome and charismatic Theodor Lent. Is this her dream come true or the beginning of her worst nightmare?

269 pages, ebook

First published October 10, 2012

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about Julia Pastrana ("The World's Ugliest Woman") in a different book I read recently about Laura Bridgman and wanted to learn more about her. I can't say how much of this book is based on truth and how much liberty the authors took, but if it's pretty much true, it's a heartbreaking story. Julia Pastrana lived in the 1800s and was born in Mexico. She came from a family in which it wasn't unusual to be covered in hair. She was completely covered in hair, had quite a beard and had facial deformities that caused her to look like an ape. On the inside, she was a very intelligent human woman, well read, polite and kind. But she was forced first into lab testing and then sold into a circus. This story is about a handsome but conniving man who befriended her and lured her away from the circus with the promise of a "normal" life. He manipulated her into a lifetime of shows, marrying her so that she was forced to obey him. Her life ended in tragedy, and according to this book, her husband did some of the most despicable things imaginable at the end. It's an interesting read because of the story, but the writing was fairly bad. There were a lot of typos and misused words. For that reason, it wasn't worth much more than the 99 cents I paid for it.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminds Me of Other Famous Pop Stars...

This a truly horrifying account of the life of Julia Pastrana. Not only was she terribly misused, she was lead to believe that the abuse she endured was love. Sadly, I found myself wondering if her life was much different from Tina Turner's, Michael Jackson's or any other goose that laid golden eggs under the management of ruthless, money hungry sociopaths.
My heart aches for Miss Julia and her son. I hope she is at rest.
I think it is fitting retribution that Lent lost his mind and was plagued by his sins.

[Jennifer Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misunderstood Cruelty

This story gives an empathetic and human perspective to the real people who endured the misfortunes of a bad gene in Victorian times. The sensationalism and promotion of these people- who just desired normalcy- is well portrayed in this story.