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About the Author
The Magic Whip pays particular attention to women and children whose ordeals have been imprinted on their very bodies and whose memories resonate in these exceptionally clear, beautifully crafted poems that bear the weight of human suffering and joy. Her books include two collections of poetry, The Magic Whip and Of Flesh & Spirit, the cultural study Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China, the novel Foreign Devil, two collections of fiction stories entitled American Visa and The Last Communist Virgin, and a book of Chinese folk lore, The Dragon Emperor. Wang is also the editor and co-translator of the anthology New Generation: Poetry from China Today and co-translator of Flames by Xue Di. Her earliest memories were of life with one of the many small travelling shows- part fair and part circus – that toured the shires at the dawn of the Victorian era But at the age of seven she found herself an orphan who, in accordance with her Spanish father's dying wishes, must now leave this warm and friendly community to live with an unknown English grandmother far to the north in County Durham. The Magic Whip was a 2004 finalist for the Minnesota Book Award and received an honorable mention from the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, and Aching for Beauty was a 2001 Minnesota Book Award finalist and winner of the University of Colorado’s Eugene M. N° d'éditeur 12. Dust jacket tatty.
A beautifully crafted collection that bears the weight of human suffering and joy.
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Reviews
Carole Sue Taylor
More remarkable than Charlie’s skill with horse teams was the fact that she was born a woman and remained a woman until the day she died, at which point her true sex was revealed. A woman wouldn’t have even been allowed to demonstrate her ability to handle such a job, nor would she have been safe as a single woman in the lawless days of the Gold Rush. A terrific book to read, an inspiring and insightful piece of fiction molded around what is known about an actual person whose secrets went with her to the grave.
The author has used her own historical research and imagination to create much of the story. Charlie took on the clothing, appearance, and outer behavior of a man in order to survive as a skilled horseman in the west. Little is known of Charlie’s early life in New England other than that she was raised in an orphanage.
The author is an actress and the book is structured so that each short chapter encapsulates an action scene – making it ripe for adaptation into a film, which I understand the actress is currently trying to execute. The book is rich in character and language of the times. Charlie worked the area between Stockton, Modesto, Sacramento and Placerville (or Hangtown, as it was called then).
A fictionalized account of the life of Charlie Parkhurst, known as “the Whip,” one of the most acclaimed stage coach drivers in the west. As noted on the headstone, she is thought to have been the first woman to ever vote in the state of California, although she did it as a man. Charlie was neither transgender nor lesbian; in her early life she had given birth and carried with her until the end of her days a private packet containing among other items, the tiny clothes of a baby girl. Charlie’s story is tragic and heroic, and her grave rests to this day in the Pioneer Odd Fellows Cemetery in Watsonville.
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