Review: What a life!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 26, 2012
Little Hot Mama is the very real story of Flossie Turner.  She was born into a traveling circus family during the depression era.  From the time she was two years old she was onstage singing and performing skits with her parents.  Traveling from place to place during the circus season.. and then.. during the winters.. usually abandoned by her gambling father.. her mother was left to feed and survive throughout the winters on their own.  To train her younger sister and brother to perform with the growing family act.Her story is filled with moments of hilarity.. followed by times of extreme poverty.  Never allowing anyone to know.. just how her father's gambling and drinking put them in such dire straits.  Flossie only attended school for a few short months when she was a little girl.  Her story is more about how she coped with not knowing how to read or write.  She was born with amazing God given talents.. but, NOT educated on how to obtain financial security from her gifts.I very much enjoyed the easy flow of the story.  There were times.. one just wanted to reach out.. and thump her father.  His addiction to gambling.. left the family destitute and without a safety net for the majority of their lives.  He was a very selfish man.. but, he wasn't physically abusive like many of the other men in the circus.  About the only blessing he was able to provide his wife and children.Amazingly.. when Flossie was in her late sixties.. just by chance.. she moved to be closer to her son.. and finally learned how to read and write through the church.  She always knew that not knowing how to read a contract resulted in the family act always being open to being screwed over by nightclub managers.  I suppose the thing I found to be most shocking.. is that while her father wasn't educated.. her mother was.. and never taught her children how to read.