hilton, violet

Explores the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins born in 1908, abandoned by their mother, and placed on exhibition. Follows the girls as they travel from Brighton, England to Australian amusement parks and to American sideshows, where they eventually became famous on the vaudeville circuit. Also discusses who Violet and Daisy were as individuals and their lives after retiring from the stage.

"On February 5, 1908, Kate Skinner, a 21-year-old unmarried barmaid in Brighton, England, gave birth to twin girls. They each had ten fingers and ten toes, but were joined back to back at the base of the spine. Freaks, monsters--that's what they were called. Mary Hilton, Kate's employer and midwife, adopted Violet and Daisy and promptly began displaying the babies as 'Brighton's United Twins.' Exhibitions at street fairs, carnivals, and wax museums across England and Scotland followed. At 8 years old, the girls came to the United States, eventually becoming the stars of sideshow, vaudeville, and burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. In a story loaded with questions about identity and exploitation, Sarah Miller delivers a completely compelling, empathetic portrait of two sisters whose bonds were so sacred that nothing--not even death--would compel Violet and Daisy to break them"--From the publisher's web site.