MARIE by Lori Safranek

Lori Safranek‘s Freaked Out series takes a creepy look at life in the circus sideshow. Marie, the tale of the Fat Lady in the sideshow, is the first book in the series.

The Fat Lady in Steiner’s Sideshow isn’t a dowdy and depressed blob of a woman who just sits on stage in a muumuu, looking ashamed, depressed, and hungry.
No, sir!
If you sneak a peek inside Steiner’s tent of freaks, you’ll find a raven haired, corsetted Goddess upon the stage. Six nights a week, Marie Estelle Jefferson struts her 470lbs across the stage in a short skirt and greets her crowd of admirers. For fifteen minutes a night, she performs her routine for the growing crowds and is streamed live via webcam, to her online admirers at her personal website.

This pic was put together by SG for this post, and is not connected to the book, or author, in any way.

With a quick hair-flip as she turns and says goodbye, Marie leaves the crowd with a view of the intricate angel wing tattoo that covers her back. She is one of a kind. Her assistant, Natalie, and Jason the Alligator Man help Marie back to her trailer. During her last performance, she started to feel dizzy, and knew that she didn’t have the strength to make it off the stage, let alone all the way back to her trailer.
She feels lucky to have Natalie by her side.
Natalie’s family were carny folk, so she was honored to get the position as Marie’s assistant. She’s a tiny little thing, quite the opposite of the woman she works with. While Marie dresses flashy and sexy, Natalie always seems to fade into the background. By the nature of their relationship, they had grown quite, close. Marie considers Natalie like a built-In best friend.
When odd things begin happening with Marie’s health, Natalie’s behavior seemed odd, too. Natalie never seemed to think that Marie’s health issues were anything to fret over, and she even had her mom come over to see Marie instead of calling on a real doctor. Jason noticed, even if Marie didn’t. Jason decides to pay closer attention to Marie and Natalie, and what he reveals is the strangest plot to ever visit the Freaks and Steiner’s Sideshow!

Lori Safranek’s Freaked Out series continues with Mesmer, a hypnotist gone bad, followed by the snake charmer – Lily Dean. More twisted tales of freaks on the sideshow coming soon.