The Final Confession of Mabel Stark: A Novel (An Evergreen book)

"Rollicking . . . Hough dutifully traces the peaks and valleys of
Mabel's remarkable life. . . . Mabel's tale is sprinkled with bits of
fascinating circus lore."

-Jenny Oftill, The Washington Post

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable novel. . . .
[Hough's] colorful account of [Mabel's] wild life-in and out of the
center ring-is irresistible."

-The Dallas Morning News

"Utterly human . . . Hough has ensured that [Mabel] remains
brightly lit in the arena of memory.... Unforgettable."

-Emily Carter, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Mabel Stark developed an act so original, so daring, so brave, that it
puts all the stupid human tricks on today's reality shows to shame.
... Hough has constructed a captivating portrait of a woman and a
way of life that no longer exist."

-Regis Behe, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Hough packs his sprawling novel with fascinating details that leave
you wondering what's true and what's imagination."

-Jody Jaffe, The Baltimore Sun

"Astounding . . . Hough captures the attitude and emotions of
America through the first half of the twentieth century.... Hough
brings a humanistic humor and melancholy to the otherwise freakish
proceedings.... Heartbreakingly honest and insightful ... Feels like
a sort of Great American Novel."

-Erik Henriksen, The Portland Mercury

"Narrating with a saucy, bouncy verve, [Mabel Stark] recounts a life
story that is one part John Irving, two parts blue movie."

-John Freeman, Time Out New York

"Engaging ... Though this is historical fiction ... the truth Hough
(and to some extent his heroine) finally uncovers is timeless... .
[Mabel is] a woman of her times who tried her best to rise above the
tragedies of her youth and did so with style for much of her glorious,
courageous life."

-Clea Simon, The Boston Phoenix

"Stark's whole life was like ... a series of rip-snorting ups and
downs, as frequently harrowing as a Saturday-afternoon movie
serial."

-John Griffin, The Arizona Republic

"Attention-grabbing ... [Rough's] depictions of the many maulings
Stark suffered at the paws of her beast are particularly gripping,
especially her most gruesome attack, by two full-grown male tigers."

-Amy M. Bruce, Baltimore City Paper

"Rippling with brawny energy, its prose tangy with regret and pride,
[The Final Confession of Mabel Stark] gives off the smells and tastes
of circus-world exuberance."

-Jesse Barrett, City Pages

"As involving as it is informative, as moving as it is riveting ... It's
an exotic and exciting picture of the circus's golden age and one
talented and tormented (and well-scarred) star. This is a wonderful
novel, which marks the debut of a writer to watch."

-Lynn Harnett, The Portsmouth Herald

"Rich in the atmosphere of circus life, this graphic, slangy fictional
reminiscence also offers some surprising, deft metafictional
touches."

-Publishers We e k/v

"Outspoken, earthy, sometimes repentant, and always indomitable,
Mabel leaps into life with the vigor of her beloved tigers. The result
is a novel as fascinating as it's heroine."

-Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman, Magil Book Reviews

"A marvelous debut ... about the life and amazing adventures of the
greatest female tiger trainer in circus history and narrated with
delicious humor and wan-nth.... Just about perfect. One of the most
entertaining novels in years."

-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Exuberant ... An exciting and entrancing portrait of life in what
was then the most popular public entertainment in the land. . . .
Hough reveals Mabel's inner self by giving her a voice and a way of
telling her story that is unique and idiosyncratic. Mabel's voice, her
perspective, her attitude is one of the great pleasures and great
achievements of the novel."

-Alden Mudge, Bookpage

"Utterly captivating and thrilling fictionalized life of the greatest
female tiger-trainer in history ... It is also a snapshot of the circus at
the height of its popularity in America in the early twentieth
century-an age when circus performers were superstars."

-The Bookseller

"Rambunctious Mabel Stark is brought to life from her journals and
letters, and although Hough uses artistic license to fill in the gaps of
his research, his intimations are all too plausible here, where the truth
is certainly stranger than fiction."

-Elsa Gaztambide, Booklist

"Hough's energetic writing brings bittersweet memories spilling off
the page.... The Final Confession of Mabel Stark is made in a voice
so compelling that fact and fiction cease to mean much. . . . This
book has teeth."

-The Times (London)

"[Hough] writes exceptionally well: his prose is clear and he is good
a set pieces that show us the various staging posts in Stark's life....
It is perfect movie material.... The book skims over comic, sad and
tragic episodes alike. Refusing to get bogged down in introspection
or analysis, the narrative pushes forward. It is well-crafted
entertainment."

Sunday Herald

"Hough's Mabel may be mostly invention but she's a fiction who
tells it straight. It's a clever conceit, structuring the book around a
testy, superannuated confessee: the story steams along like a
Ringling train, fuelled by Mabel's self-obsession, unsolicited advice
and wry perspective."

-The Ohserver (London)

"This book is hilarious. It is frankly impossible not to fall in love
with the heroine, a woman other women would like to be, and men
would like to tame. . . . This book is an uplifting account of a life
lived to the hilt."

-Irish Examiner

"Never flagging, the compelling story thunders along like a runaway
circus train bearing a dangerous cargo of painful memory, wild
animals, grotesque characters, and outlandish stories."

-The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"One hell of a journey . . . Hough vividly renders the big-top life,
from the working men to the divas in the ring ... a world of blood
and death ... of illicit sex and mysterious pasts."

-Vancouver Sun

A NOVEL BY

ROBERT HOUGH