We Are All His Creatures: Tales of P. T. Barnum, the Greatest Showman
Eleven stories spanning P.T. Barnum’s career from 1842 until his death in 1891 give voice to members of P.T. Barnum’s families: The one at home and the one at the circus. Told from the point of view of his two wives, his daughters, a granddaughter, his most famous performer Charlie Stratton (a little person Barnum renamed “General Tom Thumb”), and Robert Lincoln, President Lincoln’s eldest son, they give a dark and unpleasant view of the man who became known as The Greatest Showman.
Each story is firmly grounded in the period, giving a vivid picture of the time as well as a grim idea of what it might have been like to live within Barnum’s sphere. The narrators all express loneliness and varying degrees of neglect at the hands of Barnum, yet there is little hope of change to their circumstances. While the stories orbit around Barnum, they are not about the man specifically and do not always feel connected. In the fifth story, “We Will Always Be Sisters,” Noyes introduces a supernatural element which is beautifully eerie (reminiscent of The Ghosts of Kerfol, 2008). Sadly, it is dropped with no resolution. Written for readers ages 14 and up.
