Set in a vanished time, and in the fantastically rich world of vaudeville, "The Little Shadows" revolves around three sisters: Aurora, the eldest and most beautiful, sixteen when the book opens; thoughtful Clover, who is fourteen; and the youngest, joyous headstrong sprite Bella, who is thirteen. The girls, overseen by their fond but barely coping Mama, must make their living as a singing act after the untimely death of their father. They begin with little besides youth and hope, but Endicott's genius is to show how the three girls evolve into true artists. In gorgeous prose and through unforgettable characters, Marina Endicott takes us onto the brightly lit stage and then into the little shadows that lurk behind the curtain, and reveals how the art of vaudeville--in all its variety, madness, melodrama, hilarity and sorrow--echoes the art of life itself.
The Little Shadows
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Praise for "The Little Shadows"
""The Little Shadows" should come with a warning label: You will stay up too late at night reading this book. And in the morning, your first thoughts will be about its characters. Are they all right? How will they manage?"
"--The Gazette"
"Endicott catches the flavour of the times with her diction and attentiveness to sensory details, transporting readers to a harsh world mitigated only by personal connections and applause. . . . The bright lights of the stage also cast dark shadows, and Endicott explores both with gentle wisdom."
""--"Edmonton Journal"
""The Little Shadows" should come with a warning label: You will stay up too late at night reading this book. And in the morning, your first thoughts will be about its characters. Are they all right? How will they manage?"
"--The Gazette"
"Endicott catches the flavour of the times with her diction and attentiveness to sensory details, transporting readers to a harsh world mitigated only by personal connections and applause. . . . The bright lights of the stage also cast dark shadows, and Endicott explores both with gentle wisdom."
""--"Edmonton Journal"
Book Description
A rich and moving novel about three sisters starting out in a vaudeville as the Great War looms
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is a mammoth novel about three sisters, Aurora, Clover and Bella and their mother Flora, on the vaudeville circuit from 1912 until we leave them in 1917. Flora was living as a housewife with her schoolteacher husband, but after the death of both him and her young son, she has decided to take her girls on the road. The book begins with the young girls auditioning in a theatre when Aurora is just 16 and the youngest, Bella, only 13. There are jobs cancelled, hopes raised only to be dashed, working for experience with no pay, living in rented rooms and boarding houses, the cold and scraping by on bowls of bread and milk. This is, in other words, no glamorous world - although you do get the sense that once the girls feet hit the boards they are off and flying in the lights, and the once empty and cold theatre becomes otherwise for them. In that sense, you do feel that however hard the life is, the sisters would not really wish for any other means of existence.
The novel shows their first fumbling loves, the betrayals and the ups and downs they face. Men do not often seem to offer the girls much - even initial hopes of security and stability seem to be little more than the sham of a vaudeville stage set. A man's temper, his whims and his way of ordering the girls about are often resented and the girls a unit that is hard to break. In this Canadian wildness it seems always to be winter and there was so much snow I felt myself shivering in places! The outside does intrude, but slowly, and WWI suddenly impacts on the girls and those around them.
The author has obviously done immense research for the novel and it is full of great detail, ufortunately sometimes too much and the book did begin to drag at the end. I do feel a good editor could have helped and it might have been a better read if the storyline had been a little tighter. I did enjoy the novel very much though, especially the first half, and the characters the author created were, in places, wonderful.
The novel shows their first fumbling loves, the betrayals and the ups and downs they face. Men do not often seem to offer the girls much - even initial hopes of security and stability seem to be little more than the sham of a vaudeville stage set. A man's temper, his whims and his way of ordering the girls about are often resented and the girls a unit that is hard to break. In this Canadian wildness it seems always to be winter and there was so much snow I felt myself shivering in places! The outside does intrude, but slowly, and WWI suddenly impacts on the girls and those around them.
The author has obviously done immense research for the novel and it is full of great detail, ufortunately sometimes too much and the book did begin to drag at the end. I do feel a good editor could have helped and it might have been a better read if the storyline had been a little tighter. I did enjoy the novel very much though, especially the first half, and the characters the author created were, in places, wonderful.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Roman Clodia
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Set on the Canadian vaudeville circuit between 1911-1917, this almost feels more like a documenting of vaudeville acts rather than a novel. The narrative feels, to me, to be very fragmented and difficult to catch hold off, and this isn't really a story that's driven by either character or plot.
Endicott spends page after page describing each act in excruciating detail: every word of every song, every dance move, every tumble and jump, every magic trick and so on. Interspersed with this is a series of auditions, tours, hotel and boarding rooms, casts of characters, bread and milk suppers, successes.
This feels like a very gendered world: girls are exposed in their precocious sexuality, men are exploitative betrayers - and through it all the girls of the Avery family stick together.
This has been described as a cross between Little Women and Like Water for Elephants: but it doesn't have the charm, pep and emotional hooks of the Alcott, or the romance of Like Water. I actually found this a strangely amorphous novel that's not really `about' anything other than vaudeville itself - I wanted to like this, but actually found it a tedious, tiresome read and couldn't wait to be done with it.
Endicott spends page after page describing each act in excruciating detail: every word of every song, every dance move, every tumble and jump, every magic trick and so on. Interspersed with this is a series of auditions, tours, hotel and boarding rooms, casts of characters, bread and milk suppers, successes.
This feels like a very gendered world: girls are exposed in their precocious sexuality, men are exploitative betrayers - and through it all the girls of the Avery family stick together.
This has been described as a cross between Little Women and Like Water for Elephants: but it doesn't have the charm, pep and emotional hooks of the Alcott, or the romance of Like Water. I actually found this a strangely amorphous novel that's not really `about' anything other than vaudeville itself - I wanted to like this, but actually found it a tedious, tiresome read and couldn't wait to be done with it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Marina Endicott here gives us a peek into the world of vaudeville, although this is fiction quite a few of the events, songs and joke routines are taken from real life. After Flora's son and husband have died she takes her three daughters, Aurora aged 16, Amelia a.k.a Clover aged 15, and Arabella a.k.a Bella aged 13 onto the circuit as a singing group. Lying about their ages, and herself coming across old acquaintances from when she trod the boards, this is a story that is easy to get into.
Following the family between 1912-1917 they have good as well as bad times. Will they make their dream of reaching the big time come true, or will other things get in the way? Taking life as it comes the girls help and get involved with others in their acts, and of course love rears its head on more than one occasion. As the family is Canadian of course there is also the worries when friends go off to do their duty in the First World War.
Life is never easy when you tread the boards and this book portrays that, and the hardships that this can cause. In work one week, dropped the next it is through luck and the help of friends at times to get a booking, and the constant travelling to separate bookings itself can be a drudge. Because the author has researched the vaudeville well we do get a feeling of what it was like, and the things that could and did go wrong, as well as what some girls had to do to get bookings. This is well written and an enjoyable read that should keep you entertained for some time.
Following the family between 1912-1917 they have good as well as bad times. Will they make their dream of reaching the big time come true, or will other things get in the way? Taking life as it comes the girls help and get involved with others in their acts, and of course love rears its head on more than one occasion. As the family is Canadian of course there is also the worries when friends go off to do their duty in the First World War.
Life is never easy when you tread the boards and this book portrays that, and the hardships that this can cause. In work one week, dropped the next it is through luck and the help of friends at times to get a booking, and the constant travelling to separate bookings itself can be a drudge. Because the author has researched the vaudeville well we do get a feeling of what it was like, and the things that could and did go wrong, as well as what some girls had to do to get bookings. This is well written and an enjoyable read that should keep you entertained for some time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but too long!
Divided into three parts, with some elements of the story intertwining, this is an ambitious look at the world of Vaudeville theatre. Read more
Published 2 months ago by F. R. Lewis
4.0 out of 5 stars
A life in vaudeville
When we first meet teenage sisters Aurora, Clover, and Bella it is 1912 and they are penniless. Their widowed mother is desperate for them to earn a living in vaudeville, as she... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Eleanor
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly boring
We are reading this book in our Book CLub but I have only got about a third of the way and have stopped to read another book as I am finding this a bit boring. Read more
Published 6 months ago by dupressa
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Vaudeville Tale
An original and entertaining book about the life of three sisters in the world of vaudeville before and during the first world war. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Roberton
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Quite Ballet Shoes
The Little Shadows are three sisters working as touring vaudeville singers in early 20th century North America. Read more
Published 9 months ago by elkiedee
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vaudeville - Canadian life on the road
I loved this book, especially the actual vaudeville acts so lovingly presented - these parts were not too long for me, in fact I would have liked more, but my grandmother was a... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Penny Waugh
4.0 out of 5 stars
a mighty tome; an invitation to vaudeville
As the author says in her acknowledgements: " This is a book about vaudeville. Everything in it is stolen,juggled, stitched together backwards and upside down, shined up and sent... Read more
Published 12 months ago by David Spanswick
3.0 out of 5 stars
You've just got to love Vaudeville
In order to get the full benefit of this detailed, rich novel you need to be one of those people who relish tales of life on stage: the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by S. Zigmond
3.0 out of 5 stars
A LEISURELY, AFFECTIONATE TELLING
Clearly captivated by the world of vaudeville, Marina Endicott painstakingly recreates its life around the time of The Great War. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Really Should Step into the World of Vaudeville ...
What a wonderful story!
It began Canada, to a cold, snowy day in 1912. Flora Avery took her three daughters - Aurora, Clover and Bella - to an audition. Read more
It began Canada, to a cold, snowy day in 1912. Flora Avery took her three daughters - Aurora, Clover and Bella - to an audition. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Fleur Fisher
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