"Nightmare: He's beautiful, with silver hair, and skin like snow. And his heart is as cold as that same snow. Nightmare has confessed his love to Alice--but he won't make a move, take her hand, or even ask her on a date! Alice is still too unsure of her own feelings to give him an answer. To complicate matters, Alice finds herself onstage as part of Joker's circus show, and learns the stunning secrets of the circus, the prison, and Joker himself....

Recounts a real-life, lesbian love story--set in late 19th century America-- that ended tragically with the public murder of seventeen-year-old Freda Ward by her lover Alice Mitchell, who was subsequently declared insane and committed to an asylum where she died under mysterious circumstances. Coe includes over 100 illustrated love letters, maps, artifacts, historical documents, newspaper articles, courtroom proceedings, and intimate, domestic scenes--painting...