The Medicine Woman of Galveston

Hugh “Huey” Horn is the antagonist of the book. He is the owner and showrunner of “The Amazing Adolphus Show,” the traveling medicine show. Huey offers Tucia a job with the show, needing the cover of a licensed physician to lend his show legitimacy. Not much is known about Huey’s past. He is revealed to have been in prison with Darl, though the original crime he committed is never clarified. Huey and Darl escape prison together, with Huey killing a prison guard on the way out, following which it is implied he put together the medicine show.

Huey’s success with the show comes from his charm and salesmanship. He is a captivating storyteller, as Tucia witnesses him sell the audience at his shows the story of having discovered a magical elixir made of snake oil while in Siam. Huey’s charm, however, belies his deeply manipulative and exploitative nature. Huey lures performers into the show by presenting a charming front, but keeps them there through blackmail and manipulation when they try to leave. Huey is also as volatile and temperamental as he is charming. He physically lashes out at Tucia in more than one instance, and his sordid past reveals his capacity for actual, cold-blooded murder. This is hinted at toward the end of the book as well, when Huey almost shoots Tucia. Huey’s inherently cruel and violent nature, alongside his consistent dishonesty, render him a true villain. Thus, his end is one of poetic justice: He is arrested after the storm, with each of his victims finally being released from his bondage.

However, there are also nuances to Huey’s character that go largely unexplored in service of the larger narrative. No complete details of his past emerge, leaving the reader with little context to explain his motivations; his actions in the present timeline are the only things available to form an opinion of his character, and these paint him in a bad light time and again. Huey also has an opium dependency, but being cast as a villain, this aspect of his life remains an unexplored detail. Unlike the representation of other mental illnesses in the book, like Tucia’s PTSD and trichotillomania, Huey’s substance use is not presented empathetically—rather, it is painted as a character flaw that contributes to his villainy.

Darl is a non-performing member of the medicine show and Tucia’s eventual love interest in the book. Darl is the character with the oldest association with Huey, both of them having escaped prison together. With their checkered pasts binding them together, Huey has substantially less power over Darl than he does the others. This is why Darl doesn’t perform in the show and why the show doesn’t have any “blackface” acts: Darl is part Black.

Darl’s character primarily serves two functions in the book: He contributes to Tucia’s journey of love and self-worth, and he helps explore the idea of unconscious stereotypes in the larger narrative. By proving a respectful and trustworthy partner who loves and cares for Tucia, Darl reaffirms Tucia’s faith in men and allows her to explore romance and sex in a safe space. Their relationship becomes a sign of personal progress that Tucia has made in these areas. Similarly, Darl’s backstory opens Tucia’s eyes to stereotypes and prejudices she had never thought of before, allowing her to see why instances of “blackface” are problematic. Tucia’s insights in this instance contribute to the exploration of how stereotypes and prejudice can be dismantled with enough information and empathy.