In 1919, the Turner sisters and their parents are barely scraping by. When their father, a low-paid bootmaker, loses his job, their irrepressible mother decides that the vaudeville stage is the family's best chance to make the rent. With so much at stake, teenagers Gert, Winnie, and Kit, recent widow Nell and her infant son, and their newly minted stage mother take the Tumbling Turner Sisters acrobatic act on the road. Polished professionals they are not, but as their shrewd agent says, "Pretty girls in short skirts sells, even if you're up there laying bricks." The Turners soon find unexpected freedom amid performers who are as diverse as their acts. From the past-their-prime Jewish comedians to the conniving French singer to the black tap dancer who inspires a love the world won't allow, each has something invaluable to impart about vaudeville - and life. The business has a seamy side, however, and as the girls face startling twists of fate, the new lives they've fought so hard for hang in the balance. Told in turn by shy Winnie and headstrong Gert, The Tumbling Turner Sisters is a story of awakening - to unexpected possibilities, to love and heartbreak, and to the dawn of a new American era.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.