White River Red
In 1972, Betty McLaughlin is bored writing obituaries for the Springdale Times. An aspiring journalist, Betty musters her courage to ask her editor if she could have a new assignment. Murray obliges by giving her a lead about an elderly tightrope walker living in a nursing home facility in Fayetteville. If Betty proves herself an able writer, the story will be a Sunday feature.
Forrestina Campbell, aka White River Red, ran away from home at the age of 15 to join a circus. In 1909, she catches up to Ringling Brothers and is signed on as a ballet girl, but her real desire is to be an aerialist—a tightrope walker. What follows is a fictionalized account of Forrestina’s life as told to Betty.
Based on the real Forrestina Campbell, Marietta recounts Red’s ascent to becoming a star tightrope walker, a fall that results in her dismissal from the famous circus, two tumultuous relationships with alcoholic lovers, a run as a carnie worker using trained rats, and lastly, Campbell’s generosity toward others. Such material could have made for an exceptional telling; however, Marietta’s writing does not fully capitalize on Forrestina Campbell’s life or even the gritty backdrop of the Depression. A lack of emotional tension and shallow characterizations fail to elevate this novel beyond a serviceable account of a woman’s life. It is a pleasant story, simply written.
