1950. When New York authorities try to remove Rainy from her home, she and Gramps seek refuge with a traveling carnival. They must adapt to an unconventional, nomadic lifestyle filled with carnies whose physical anomalies have defined them as “freaks.”

While traveling with the show, Rainy, Gramps, and the carnies suffer through a widespread Polio Epidemic and must fight to survive the ravages of Delaware's terrifying Hurricane Able of 1952. After a shocking turn of events, Rainy longs to return to a normal life. But what does “normal” really mean?

Gwen Banta's BEYOND THE HOLE IN THE FENCE is an edge-of-your-seat adventure filled with colorful, larger-than-life characters. Through humor and heartbreak, Rainy learns she can never recapture her past. She finds love and comes of age in an eccentric environment under remarkable circumstances.

“Thoroughly absorbing from the 1st paragraph… a rollicking ride… an exceptionally vivid portrait of the 1950s and an atmosphere of wonder, revelation, and change.” — D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review-

Italy's Paradise