Fall of the Flamingo Circus

Rigby's first novel boasts a working-class, punk-rocker heroine whose fresh, authentic voice is as unusual as her fears, needs and longings are universal. Growing up in a Yorkshire slum with an abusive, alcoholic father and seven siblings, attention-starved Lauren Schanzer feels like a caged animal. Dressed in outrageous clothing, her face hidden behind war paint, she struggles both to discover herself and avoid self-confrontation, fleeing home to live off welfare and float randomly from one hellish relationship to another. Her funky, reprobate facade only thinly disguises her compassionate heart and basic integrity. Lauren's diary entries capture her spunky, defiant voice as she moves from a naive, ungrammatical seven-year-old waif to a sparkling philosopher-poet whose calamitous, colorful 22 years have taught her that a tragic existence is not inevitable after all. (Apr.)