A nomadic family of circus performers, refugees from Romania, travels through
Europe and Africa by caravan. The mother's death-defying act causes constant
anxiety for her two daughters, who voice their fears through a grisly communal
fairy tale about a child being cooked alive in polenta--but their real life is
no less of a dark fable, and one that seems just as unlikely to have a happy
ending. An actor and performance artist as well as a poet and novelist,
Veteranyi was acclaimed for her seemingly artless narrative voice, in which pain
and hilarity always vie for the upper hand--a voice at once lyrical and jaded,
prurient and spiritual, comical and horrifying.