Sarah Canary
Sarah Canary is a young woman who shows up at a Chinese railroad workers’ camp near an insane asylum at Steilacoom, Washington, in the late 1800s. She sometimes utters odd sounds but never speaks audibly and lives off the charity of whomever she runs into.
Her first friend is a Chinese man named Chin who takes her to the insane asylum where they both become interned. They later escape with an inmate named B.J. who tags along with them the rest of the novel.
During their escape they meet Harold who finally kidnaps Sarah and has her appear in bars as the Alaskan Wild Women, "who was raised by wolves." But Adelaide Dixon, a traveling lecturer on women’s suffrage, was determined to protect Sarah. Chin and B.J. join Adelaide and Sarah in their adventurous attempt to escape Harold.
All of these characters are comical, except Sarah. And even though the novel is named for her, she is only vaguely described and very inactive. Fowler is very imaginative in portraying her other characters, but readers who wonder what finally happens to Sarah are in for a let-down.
Sarah Canary was published in 1991.