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Buddy Reads > Buddy Read: TONIC & BALM

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message 1: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
The BR for TONIC & BALM will take place on April 18th. This discussion will be unique in that we will discuss the entire book beginning that day. Should be fun! I think this book will be a sleeper hit. That’s my prediction and I’m sticking with it.


message 2: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Reminder: Our buddy read for TONIC AND BALM will begin on April 18th. We are discussing the entire book beginning that day, however, we are not opposed to setting up a reading schedule if you indicate to us you haven’t completed the book by that date. Just let us know.

Happy reading!


message 3: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Here’s an article from FOLKSTREAM about and titled, Black Entertainers And The Medicine Show. It also talks about black minstrelsy. Really interesting.

http://www.folkstreams.net/film-conte...


message 4: by ColumbusReads (last edited Apr 18, 2019 02:18PM) (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
So, our discussion begins today. Since there's no reading schedule being that the entire book is being discussed, would you all like to just throw out comments and questions when we get the urge?

@Nadine what’s your thoughts on the book? I figure since you suggested this book for a buddy read it’s only right that you go first.

@Rosalie It’s not often you get the publisher in a group discussion. How lucky are we! Would you like to share your experience with how the marriage between publisher/author came to be? Being the indie publisher for this book are you also the book editor? How does that work? Anything you’re able to share would be great.

Ironically, i’m now in the middle of The Editor by Steven Rowley. But J. Kennedy-Onassis is “the editor” and the publisher is Doubleday so little I can glean from the publishing dynamic there.


message 5: by Nadine in California (last edited Apr 19, 2019 04:18PM) (new)

Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments I liked it very much - 4 stars. Although the first two chapters had me a little worried because they seemed underdeveloped. I liked the idea that our first window into the world of the Medicine Show was through a runaway boy, but Ephraim never came fully to life for me - I think because his life before running away from home and after returning was too sketchy - as if there was no wider world around him than his sister's house -he had no friends, no experiences of his own. I think that would have given him more depth and could have also given a reason for his attachment to Antoinette. Louise 'Ma' Fleet was also too thin for me - in fact, I learned more about her in the chapter from Ed 'Pa' Fleet's perspective.

But after those two chapters, I loved the others - the characters were so warm and honest and real and taken together I feel like a got a well-rounded look at hardscrabble life in 1919. I felt like the author loved her characters and she made me love them too.

I liked that the novel ended on a positive note, but one thing that bothered me was where did Tildy and Antoinette get the money to buy a storefront and start a business? I can't imagine that what savings they had were enough to do that - although maybe the area was so economically depressed that it was really dirt cheap. Sometimes I need those mundane details to keep the story grounded.

One thing I really lilked was making a table of contents out of a program for the show, and how the program 'hawked' each chapter as an exciting act, but the chapter itself told the real life story behind the act.

I wish there could be one more draft of the first two chapters, and then I might give it 5 stars.


message 6: by Rosalie (last edited Apr 18, 2019 03:24PM) (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments So glad we're finally talking about the book! First, a few thoughts about the first couple of chapters. I found myself drawn in to each character during that character's chapter, and then kept getting insights to them through other characters.

I wonder if I'm the only one who loved Louise Fleet! I loved her sharp humor, her unapologetic fierceness, her well-hidden vulnerability. Despite what she did to poor Haines.

One of the things I loved about Ephraim's chapter was the glimpse of respectability politics among middle-class African Americans at that era. Unlike other black and some white characters who were escaping lives of drudgery, what Ephraim wanted to flee was his sister's world with her expectations of very proper, upstanding behavior and a life devoted to "uplift" of the less fortunate. I think the author's depiction of all this was extremely subtle and beautifully done.

Funny side note: I didn't know how to pronounce Ephraim in any way other than the Spanish way: Eh-fra-EEM. So it finally occurred to me to ask Stephanie one time when I had her on the phone. Turns out it's EF-rem. : )


message 7: by Nadine in California (last edited Apr 18, 2019 05:53PM) (new)

Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments Rosalie wrote: "One of the things I loved about Ephraim's chapter was the glimpse of respectability politics among middle-class African Americans at that era... "

I was fascinated too and it's where I wanted to see and feel a little more of that world, I think it wouldn't take much - I wouldn't want to see the book grow much longer - it's so tight and focused the way it is.

Funny side note: I didn't know how to pronounce Ephraim in any way other than the Spanish way: Eh-fra-EEM. So it finally occurred to me to ask Stephanie one time when I had her on the phone. Turns out it's EF-rem. : )

I went the Hebrew route, ef-RAH-im :)



Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments I was a guest on Jenny Colvin's Reading Envy podcast yesterday. Each of us picked three books to talk about and one of my picks was Tonic and Balm :) She's going to put the episode online on May 7. I THINK I pretty much said what was in my post here, although when the recording light goes on I turn into a blithering idiot with 10 words to my name, so who knows ;) But I was very positive about the book overall, so I hopefully it will draw more readers. And my public library doesn't have it yet, so I'll put in a request to buy.


message 9: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Nadine wrote: "I was a guest on Jenny Colvin's Reading Envy podcast yesterday. Each of us picked three books to talk about and one of my picks was Tonic and Balm :) She's going to put the episode online on May 7...."

Awesome. I would love to hear that. I’ll have to watch out for that.


message 10: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Another thing I thought it might be interesting to discuss was the portrayal of Doc Bell.

We see the story of the medicine show from the points of view of a lot of different characters—but not Doc Bell’s. I think that’s an interesting choice, because in a way the others are revolving around him but he himself is left a mystery: we know that we can’t trust anything he says, so even though he does speak to other characters, we really don’t know where he came from, what his life was like, his motivations. We don’t even know what happens to him, as ghostly traces of the show fade from the pages of Variety that Tildy still subscribes to years later.

I got a big laugh at that scene where he’s talking to Antoinette, and asks whether she thinks he can be trusted. She doesn’t reply, so he answers himself: “Course I ain’t to be trusted, gal. You can say it out loud. Course Doc Bell ain’t to be trusted.”

It’s such a pure Flannery O’Conner Southern-grotesque moment, and of course he expands it into a nice piece of philosophy-plus-flimflam:

“Truth is, ain’t hardly no honest souls in this entire world,” he says, “because ain’t a one of us is pure. Not Santa Claus, not President Wilson, not Jesus Christ hisself. Hell, you think that loaves and fishes act wasn’t the original sleight of hand? Course it was. The only honest man, gal, the only pure man there is on this whole topsy-turvy planet, is the one that’ll admit flat-out to you that he ain’t to be trusted.”


message 11: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
What Stephanie Allen does great here and what really sold me on this book is how atmospheric it is. I don’t think this is mentioned enough. I think this is accomplished not only by the setting and mentions of the “cornfields” and the “dust” etc...but, also in the speech, slang, dialect of these characters. I couldn’t get out of the first couple of chapters before thinking “where and what time period are we in here.” I certainly could’ve gotten my answer from the back of the book but it wasn’t until the infamous Dempsey vs Willard fight was mentioned where I had my answer.

There are so many interesting characters in this book. So, so many. But just sticking with the first couple of chapters, I’ve always been interested in the Hottentot Venus character and here it’s Sheba (Antoinette). The doctor, “he felt his breath stop at the sight of such gross cranial distinction, such anarchy in a human living form.” She of course with hydrocephalus, the primary characteristic is excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain. Extraordinary.


message 12: by ColumbusReads (last edited Apr 19, 2019 08:37AM) (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Rosalie wrote: "So glad we're finally talking about the book! First, a few thoughts about the first couple of chapters. I found myself drawn in to each character during that character's chapter, and then kept gett..."

I’ve heard three different pronunciations for Ephraim: EF-rem as the author suggested; the Hebrew version, EF-RAH-im; and the way I pronounced it while reading it, EEF-rem. Interesting.


message 13: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Columbus asked to talk about my experience of being the book’s publisher. As some of you may know (I know Columbus does), Shade Mountain Press is a micro-press, publishing one title a year, and focusing on literary fiction written by women. The press’s most recent submissions call was specifically for novels by African American women, and that’s how I found both this year’s title, Tonic and Balm, and last year’s, Kirsten Imani Kasai’s novel The House of Erzulie.

The two books couldn’t be more different in terms of tone and subject matter, but I thought they were both brilliant, and coincidentally they’re both works of historical fiction (and both got raves from Historical Novels Review). Also the authors clearly had so much compassion for their characters. And in both cases, we’re getting the same story, as it were, from multiple perspectives. In House of Erzulie we see the same events from the very different perspectives of Emilie’s letters to her childhood friend and her husband Isidore’s private diary entries. In Tonic and Balm we get a cumulative joint portrait of the medicine show as a whole, and layer upon layer of insight into the main characters as we see each one from their own POV and then see them from the POV of other characters.

And they’re both sad, aren’t they? Melancholy at the very least, and tragic in the case of House of Erzulie’s Isidore. I love the way the NPR reviewer described Tonic and Balm: “More than constructing the [medicine] show, the book deconstructs it, as if designed to shed characters at the same pace that Haydn's Farewell Symphony requires musicians to leave the stage."

I'm happy to answer specific questions!


message 14: by Beverly (new)

Beverly | 2907 comments While I will admit that I am not a fan of circus/carnival type storylines, I did find this book enjoyable.

A couple of things that I liked about the book:
- I thought it did a great job of describing a place and time - 1919 rural Pennsylvania. Loved the description of the physical geography but also the emotional geography of the place.
- The backstories of the members of Doc Bell's crew - they came to this world too often because they were either invisible/throw away people or just so unhappy in their lives that this was one of the few places where they could be. While not an easy life in a time with not many alternatives for many, it allowed them to be with kindred souls.


message 15: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Beverly wrote: "While I will admit that I am not a fan of circus/carnival type storylines, I did find this book enjoyable.

A couple of things that I liked about the book:
- I thought it did a great job of describ..."


Just curious. Nadine indicated there was some underdevelopment in the first couple of chapters particularly the Ephraim character. Did you feel similar or not? In my notes I have Ephraim and then a question mark. Not sure if I meant to question what happened to him, write some comment about him later or what. I may have thought he was used as a character to explain something else but really unclear. If I did consider it a flaw it didn’t hinder my reading experience overall I guess.


message 16: by Beverly (new)

Beverly | 2907 comments Columbus wrote: "Beverly wrote: "While I will admit that I am not a fan of circus/carnival type storylines, I did find this book enjoyable.

A couple of things that I liked about the book:
- I thought it did a grea..."


Yes, for me the first two stories felt a little "jumpy" to me but then I found my reading rhythm and became more involved in the storyline.

This happens to me at times when I am not familiar with the author's writing style.


message 17: by Beverly (new)

Beverly | 2907 comments Columbus wrote: "Rosalie wrote: "So glad we're finally talking about the book! First, a few thoughts about the first couple of chapters. I found myself drawn in to each character during that character's chapter, an..."

It all depends on where you are for the pronunciation a lot of time.
Since I have moved to Alabama I am always being corrected on my pronunciation of certain towns/streets and it is often not how I learn the pronunciation. :)

So I went with EF-rem as that what I hear most often in the south.


message 18: by Beverly (new)

Beverly | 2907 comments Columbus wrote: "What Stephanie Allen does great here and what really sold me on this book is how atmospheric it is. I don’t think this is mentioned enough. I think this is accomplished not only by the setting and ..."

Yes, a lot of interesting characters that were different from each other yet formed a community among themselves.

One theme I sensed in each of the characters was the seeking of "freedom" - mainly the freedom to be themselves.

It was not an easy life but the characters seemed to find a freedom that they could live with.

Did anyone else sense this?


message 19: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Beverly wrote: "Columbus wrote: "What Stephanie Allen does great here and what really sold me on this book is how atmospheric it is. I don’t think this is mentioned enough. I think this is accomplished not only by..."

Yes, I thought so as well Beverly. A very unique, diverse group of misfits in this book. Also, there was no disconnect between the story, the setting and the characters, if that make sense. Oftentimes you may have a novel where the author may get two or three of these things correct, or even all of them but they may not mesh exactly.

I did wonder, however, while reading the book if I would’ve enjoyed it even more if a more standard construction would’ve worked better. I typically enjoy the linked-stories, vignettes or chapters narrated by a a different character but maybe not for this book. Although I can certainly see why it was done and it obviously makes sense, I may have preferred a more conventional telling.


Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments Columbus wrote: "A very unique, diverse group of misfits in this book. Also, there was no disconnect between the story, the setting and the characters, if that make sense. Oftentimes you may have a novel where the author may get two or three of these things correct, or even all of them but they may not mesh exactly...."

Yes, Columbus, I know exactly what you mean, it did feel all of a piece, and I'll add to that the design of the phyical book itself - the cover and the typeset of the 'Program'. Lately I've read a few small press books with cover art that didn't do justice to the book at all. It's proof that you don't need a big budget for a great cover :)

I did wonder, however, while reading the book if I would’ve enjoyed it even more if a more standard construction would’ve worked better.

The linked stories format worked perfectly for me, but multi-voice narratives is becoming my favorite these days.


message 21: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Rosalie wrote: "Columbus asked to talk about my experience of being the book’s publisher. As some of you may know (I know Columbus does), Shade Mountain Press is a micro-press, publishing one title a year, and foc..."

Thanks so much, Rosalie. Now being a micro-press, I wouldn’t expect you to handle the marketing, developing, producing, printing, and distributing of the book that you would find in a major publisher would you? What about book editing?....as previously mentioned, I just finished reading a novel with publishing as a theme. The editor in this book was situated in-house and I just wondered if that was typical of the major publishing behemoths. I can imagine in your case that’s a lot of work. Particularly when you consider the finished product; Tonic and Erzulie are really well done.


message 22: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
I found so many of these characters fascinating, particularly Antoinette/Sheba, Queen of the Nile. I loved how she was painted as not your typical submissive circus freak ala John Merrick (Elephant Man) but a multi-dimensional character that I didn’t always sympathize with. How about that. So unexpected .

Can someone please tell me what happened to Haines? Can’t recall. Did he just run off or something more nefarious?


message 23: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Columbus wrote: "Can someone please tell me what happened to Haines? Can’t recall. Did he just run off or something more nefarious? "

Poor Haines simply disappeared. After Louise Fleet sabotaged the car he was in, he walked off to find help and was never seen again. Since this was in an age of renewed anti-Black violence, it was obviously very worrisome for the two characters who really cared for him, Ed Fleet and Felix Conger.

I loved how Conger's concern for Haines was something that helped to humanize him, as he'd seemed so brusque and no-nonsense when seen through the other characters' POVs.


message 24: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Columbus wrote: "Rosalie wrote: "Columbus asked to talk about my experience of being the book’s publisher. As some of you may know (I know Columbus does), Shade Mountain Press is a micro-press, publishing one title..."

Thanks, Columbus!

The process works differently for different small presses. I handle the editing, since I have years of experience in that, but you're right that it's not something I can devote huge amounts of time to, so I can only accept manuscripts that are very polished. And yes, the big publishers have in-house editors, and sometimes they can spend years going back and forth with an author in many rounds of revision, but my sense is that that kind of process is becoming rarer. It's more likely to happen with an agent, so that by the time a publishing house accepts a manuscript, it's already gone through that process.

Then I pay a professional proofreader for the later stage of editing. Also professionals are the ones who do the interior layout and cover design. Our distribution is handled by SPD, which specializes in literary small presses. But I'm the one mostly in charge of publicity/marketing.

Basically I'm like Felix Conger. I handle the business while the brilliant artists just concentrate on their art.


message 25: by Trudy (new)

Trudy (goodreadscomtrudyspages) | 62 comments I just started reading this last night. I’m totally hooked! So, to avoid spoilers I won’t read your discussions until I finish. I will, however, read the Folkstream article. I love background research on the books I’m reading.


Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments All the characters were wonderful, but Ed Fleet really struck me to the bone. What a quietly heroic man - I hope the author brings him back in future books!

His story of being a migrant child traveling alone with his little brother is a reminder that this kind of tragedy isn't new in the US, just ignored.


message 27: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Trudy wrote: "I just started reading this last night. I’m totally hooked! So, to avoid spoilers I won’t read your discussions until I finish. I will, however, read the Folkstream article. I love background resea..."

Enjoy these wonderful misfits Trudy and jump in when you’re done!


message 28: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Rosalie wrote: "Columbus wrote: "Can someone please tell me what happened to Haines? Can’t recall. Did he just run off or something more nefarious? "

Poor Haines simply disappeared. After Louise Fleet sabotaged t..."


I was really torn between thinking Haines just ran away or that something more sinister happened to him. My gut was the latter and I was just sick. Just thinking about where they were, who he was and the times.


message 29: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Nadine wrote: "All the characters were wonderful, but Ed Fleet really struck me to the bone. What a quietly heroic man - I hope the author brings him back in future books!

His story of being a migrant child tra..."


I agree, Nadine. Ed Fleet is a beautiful soul.


message 30: by ColumbusReads (new)

ColumbusReads (coltrane01) | 4400 comments Mod
Thanks Rosalie for the twitter posting for this!

Some very intriguing questions offered by Stephanie Allen for Tonic and Balm on her webpage. All of these are worth our attention, but particularly - for me - question #6. I closed the book and the mystery of Haines stuck with me. Still does - it eats at me. I’m so glad that the author posed this question here because it shows me that it was important enough to not just gloss over. There was intent there and I wonder what was the authors intent?

What effect does it have when you don't find out definitively what became of him? Madness

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c5cd47...


Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 201 comments Columbus wrote: "Thanks Rosalie for the twitter posting for this!

Some very intriguing questions offered by Stephanie Allen for Tonic and Balm on her webpage. All of these are worth our attention, but particularly..."


Thanks for bringing this book back to mind, Columbus. I still think about it a lot. What a hidden gem - I'm so glad the publisher reached out to us!


message 32: by Rosalie (new)

Rosalie | 70 comments Columbus wrote: "Thanks Rosalie for the twitter posting for this!

Some very intriguing questions offered by Stephanie Allen for Tonic and Balm on her webpage. All of these are worth our attention, but particularly..."


You're right, Columbus. It's maddening not to know what happens to Gaines, but I think it's fitting, too. That a talented young black man could vanish off the face of the earth is consistent with the whole sordid history of white-supremacist violence and the level of devastation it's caused. As readers we all know that authors have to pick and choose which questions to leave unanswered, which storylines to leave unresolved. For me, Stephanie's choice to leave his fate unknown works well on so many levels.


message 33: by Beverly (new)

Beverly | 2907 comments National Hispanic Heritage Month 2019 in the US is September 15 - October 15

Nine New Books By Latinx Writers You’ve Got To Read

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...


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Literary Fiction by People of Color

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The House of Erzulie (other topics)
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