From the Bookshelf of Questionable Content Challenge 2012…

The Final Confession of Mabel Stark

Robert Hough

Start date: May 1, 2012

Finish date: May 31, 2012

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Pavarti Tyler

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By Pavarti · 42 posts · 69 views

last updated Apr 29, 2012 06:37AM

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Apr 19, 2012 Sheryl Steines rated it really liked it

I love character driven books. A successful reading experience for me, is determined by my love for the characters I'm reading about. Fun subject matter, interesting stories, all helps, but its the characters that keep me reading, and this time, I couldn't help but wish I knew Mabel Stark. I found her life fascinating, an enjoyable read, and an eye-popping experience that I will only ever look at from afar and not wish that I could partake in. Because really I have no desire to run off and join I love character driven books. A successful reading experience for me, is determined by my love for the characters I'm reading about. Fun subject matter, interesting stories, all helps, but its the characters that keep me reading, and this time, I couldn't help but wish I knew Mabel Stark. I found her life fascinating, an enjoyable read, and an eye-popping experience that I will only ever look at from afar and not wish that I could partake in. Because really I have no desire to run off and join the circus, but reading about it, that was something.

For the past few months I've been reading books for the Questionable Book Challenge. Basically, I've been reading books with subject matters best suited for adults. The first being a book called Pure by Rebbecca Ray and delved into the mind of a 14-year-old girl in a relationship with a 31-year-old man. Yeah, really questionable, but thoughtful and made me think.

So I get the notification that this month we were reading The Final Confession of Mabel Stark. Going into this book I had no idea why this book was questionable nor did I know who Mabel Stark was. So if you haven't heard of her yet, I'll tell you a little bit about this woman. Ever had the dream that you would one day run away and join the circus? Based on circumstances she couldn't quite control, she escaped from her stay at the mental institution and did just that. She joined the circus. A young, beautiful and still married girl, she started her career as a cooch girl, you know exotic dancer in the circus. But she eventually wanted more. That's when she fell in love with the tigers. So much so that she eventually became the tiger trainer, one of the best and worked for many years with a wildly famous tiger act for the Ringling Brothers Circus.

With all that, my description can't possibly do her justice. This amazing woman, lived a life that many could only dream of and she lived as though she was living more than one life. I talk a lot about the strong female, one that isn't perfect, but real. And Mabel wasn't perfect, but she was real and in her own way, charming and engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her.

As I said I've been partaking in the Questionable Content Challenge, a yearlong challenge to read these books and discuss them in a thoughtful and honest way. So as I read about Mabel Stark and her amazing life, I kept wondering the reason for this being considered questionable content. I expected a former cooch girl who became a tiger trainer to have a raucous sex life or engage in heavy drinking or have inappropriate relations with someone. But she didn't. The sex scenes were honest but barely there.

So as I read about her life in the circus and her ability to train tigers, I could only guess as it's reason for it being labeled questionable. First it occurred to me that by using the "N" word. Yeah that one. It happened to be the name of one of her many tigers. Not her choice, but as she spoke of the tiger, she did remind the reader that it was the 1920's. It's not an excuse but the reality of the time and important to the story of her life. And this afterall was her final confession.

Okay, that really couldn't be the reason why this book is considered questionable. So as I kept reading, I thought, maby it had to do with the fact that she was a bigamist. Might it be because she married her second husband while she was still married to her first husband and she never divorced either and went on to marry a few more times. Quite possibly. But then her life was anything but ordinary or straight or normal.

I know it couldn't be the sex. She was honest about this area of her life and yet, it wasn't explicit and there wasn't much in there, to be perfectly honest. But maybe all these things together or considered questionable. I don't really worry about that label though because I really got something totally different out of the story. This is the re-telling of the life of an amazing woman who accomplished great things in a time when women didn't have the opportunity for great things. She was a strong woman, who knew herself, who could stand up for herself and yet she was fragile and in the end, took her own life because of the pain of her past. She was truly an inspiration, a woman who loved what she did and took pride in that work. One who looked at her life honestly and lived the best she could and never tried to be something other than what she was. And in the end she understood that.

This book I'd recommend. It was an enjoyable, easy read. One that gave me a look at life in the early 1900's unlike any other book has. Maybe I might even run away and join the circus. Or maybe not.

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Jul 11, 2008 Pavarti Tyler rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

Apr 07, 2012 Susan Stec marked it as to-read

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