Hepatica Hawks

by Rachel Field, Allen Lewis (illustrator)

Patty was an "act" in a traveling freak show where the only people she knew were her father, the giant, Titania- the midget, and all other queer ones. When Tony joined the show it meant a normal, happy friendship for Patty but she had to remember that she was the giant's daughter...not like Tony at all. The story has a happy ending and is a story that girls will talk about and read over and over again.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Rachel Lyman Field was an American novelist, poet, and author of children's fiction. She is best known for her Newbery Medal–winning novel for young adults, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years , published in 1929.

As a child Field contributed to the St. Nicholas Magazine and was educated at Radcliffe College. Her book, Prayer for a Child, was a recipient of the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations by Elizabeth Orton Jones. According to Ruth Hill Vigeurs in her introduction to Calico Bush , book of Rachel Field for children, published in 1931, Rachel Field was "fifteen when she first visited Maine and fell under the spell of its 'island-scattered coast'. Calico Bush still stands out as a near-perfect re-creation of people and place in a story of courage, understated and beautiful." Field was also a successful author of adult fiction, writing the bestsellers Time Out of Mind (1935), All This and Heaven Too (1938), and And Now Tomorrow (1942). She is also famous for her poem-turned-song "Something Told the Wild Geese". Field also wrote the English lyrics for the version of Franz Schubert's Ave Maria used in the Disney film Fantasia. Field married Arthur S. Pederson in 1935, with whom she collaborated in 1937 on To See Ourselves.

Field was a descendant of David Dudley Field. She died at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California on March 15, 1942 of pneumonia following an operation.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the depths of the Great Depression, Field tells the story of the declining fortunes of a traveling freak show and its young giantess. Sharp and tender by turns, Hepatica's coming of age makes for a lovely story, and her transformation to adulthood is completely satisfying. I loved the
scenes set in turn-of-the-century New York around Union Square, especially the description of a cab ride up and down Broadway and Fifth Avenue in snow. Yes, traffic is still that bad, but Hepatica's pleasure in all she sees is a joy - as she is herself.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea what to expect from this book, the copy in my library didn't have a jacket, I just picked it up because I liked the sound of it. Hepatica, her father Hallelujah, and her friend Titania Tripp are delightful! It doesn't have much of a plot, but if you like to follow interesting characters in their day to day lives, this is a good book. Hallelujah and Hepatica are giants, T.T. is a midget, and they are part of a "travelling freaks" show that tours the U.S. I'm guessing early 1900s. Hepatica is fifteen, and she wishes she weren't six foot three inches. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read.