David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "cross-dressing"
FROG MUSIC
FROG MUSIC is a historical novel about an actual murder case, occurring in the 1870’s. It involves an eccentric lady named Jenny Bonnet who dressed like a man and drove a “big wheel” bicycle she apparently stole. The real Bonnet was also an activist for prostitutes, doing what she could to help them escape “the life”.
Bonnet is not the main character in FROG MUSIC. That would be a dancer/singer/prostitute named Blanche Beunon, who is accidentally run over by Bonnet’s big wheel while trying to cross the street. Beunon is one of three former French acrobats; her boyfriend, Arthur, was a “daring young man on the flying trapeze” until he fell and hurt his back. Ernest, his best friend, was his catcher. They move to San Francisco to try to strike it rich.
Blanche has invested the money she earned in burlesque to buy the apartment building they live in. She also supports Arthur’s gambling and speculation.
There’s also a baby involved we know as P’tit Arthur, or Little Arthur. P’tit is supposed to be living in the country with a farm family. Blanche sees him about once a month, never noticing the kid has the rickets. Jenny sticks her nose in Blanche’s business, asking why she doesn’t care for her own baby. That’s how Blanche finds out that P’tit is living in kind of a glorified puppy mill. Eventually this realization leads to a breakup with Arthur; the two women move to the outskirts of San Francisco where they think Arthur and his protector Ernest will not find them. Somebody does and Jenny is murdered with a shotgun blast, Blanche believes was meant for her. According to Afterward, the Jenny Bonney incident was a famous case similar to the Black Dalia Hollywood Murder that was still being discussed in the newspapers thirty years later.
As a reader you should know that there’s a glossary in the back to translate French words. I didn’t really look at it because you can tell fron context clues what’s being said. For instance, “micheton” is a prostitute’s trick, and a “mac” is a pimp or boyfriend of a prostitute. There’re also lots of song lyrics that were famous in the 19th century, one of the reasons the book is called FROG MUSIC (the other is that Jenny supported herself catching frogs and selling them to restaurants). Many of the songs were written by the great Stephen Foster, who died young, almost penniless because there were no copyright laws. Some will be familiar, such as “Bang, Bang, Lulu” and “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapez”.
I recognized the author Emma Donoghue, although I didn’t where until I read her credits, one of which was SLAMMERKIN, another historical novel I enjoyed a great deal. This one isn’t quite as good, mainly because most of the characters are unlikable, except for Jenny, the most original character in the book who is killed rather early. We have to rely on flashbacks to get to know her. Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly which setting we’re in.
Bonnet is not the main character in FROG MUSIC. That would be a dancer/singer/prostitute named Blanche Beunon, who is accidentally run over by Bonnet’s big wheel while trying to cross the street. Beunon is one of three former French acrobats; her boyfriend, Arthur, was a “daring young man on the flying trapeze” until he fell and hurt his back. Ernest, his best friend, was his catcher. They move to San Francisco to try to strike it rich.
Blanche has invested the money she earned in burlesque to buy the apartment building they live in. She also supports Arthur’s gambling and speculation.
There’s also a baby involved we know as P’tit Arthur, or Little Arthur. P’tit is supposed to be living in the country with a farm family. Blanche sees him about once a month, never noticing the kid has the rickets. Jenny sticks her nose in Blanche’s business, asking why she doesn’t care for her own baby. That’s how Blanche finds out that P’tit is living in kind of a glorified puppy mill. Eventually this realization leads to a breakup with Arthur; the two women move to the outskirts of San Francisco where they think Arthur and his protector Ernest will not find them. Somebody does and Jenny is murdered with a shotgun blast, Blanche believes was meant for her. According to Afterward, the Jenny Bonney incident was a famous case similar to the Black Dalia Hollywood Murder that was still being discussed in the newspapers thirty years later.
As a reader you should know that there’s a glossary in the back to translate French words. I didn’t really look at it because you can tell fron context clues what’s being said. For instance, “micheton” is a prostitute’s trick, and a “mac” is a pimp or boyfriend of a prostitute. There’re also lots of song lyrics that were famous in the 19th century, one of the reasons the book is called FROG MUSIC (the other is that Jenny supported herself catching frogs and selling them to restaurants). Many of the songs were written by the great Stephen Foster, who died young, almost penniless because there were no copyright laws. Some will be familiar, such as “Bang, Bang, Lulu” and “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapez”.
I recognized the author Emma Donoghue, although I didn’t where until I read her credits, one of which was SLAMMERKIN, another historical novel I enjoyed a great deal. This one isn’t quite as good, mainly because most of the characters are unlikable, except for Jenny, the most original character in the book who is killed rather early. We have to rely on flashbacks to get to know her. Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly which setting we’re in.
