A circus is a magical place where almost anything can happen. It’s filled with yummy food, like cotton candy, peanuts, and fried, sugary dough. There are sights and sounds to fill you with wonder. Even if you’re not a child anymore, you can be drawn in by the excitement of a circus act; the performers do death-defying stunts while glittering under the big top lights. It’s no wonder that a circus can make an excellent setting for a novel. We’re bringing you 3 circus-themed novels that will spark your imagination, all of which you can acquire at your favorite used English bookstore in Israel.
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
Our first circus novel is The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern. This beautifully written debut novel by Erin Morganstern will grip you from beginning to end. The Night Circus, officially called Le Cirque des Rêves, is a traveling circus that arrives in the middle of the night without a preamble. But this circus is different than what you’re used to. This circus only opens at night and closes as the sun peeks up on the horizon.
But The Night Circus is more than a circus. Behind the scenes, a game is played out between two contenders– Celia Bowen and Marcus Alisdair. They must create wonderful exhibits in the circus to entertain and delight the audience. But the game has a deadly side. It only ends when one of the participants can no longer go on. They compete for years and years until strange things begin to happen, all of which are connected to the circus.
But when Celia and Marcus finally meet face to face, they fall for each other. Now, the desperation to keep the circus from falling apart is even stronger. They must find a way to keep the circus alive while simultaneously ending the competition. But they must hurry because the incidents surrounding the circus keep becoming stranger and stranger.
The Night Circus is a delightful read, full of wonderful descriptions of food so amazing you could almost taste it yourself. It blends historical fiction with magic and will turn your world upside down. After you finish The Night Circus, you will see the black and white striped tents dotted with red roses when you close your eyes. You’ll smell the delicious scents of circus food and hear the magical music wafting past your ears. But remember, the circus closes at sunrise.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
While grittier than The Night Circus, the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a love story for the ages. The story takes place during the Great Depression in America, and begins when Jacob Jankowski’s parents pass away, and he finds out that his parents had no money left to pay their debts. Losing his home and being newly orphaned, Jacob leaves veterinary school and sets out to find a new path in life.
Jacob hops a train along the way and finds himself among the freaks and sideshow acts from a struggling circus. He manages to talk his way into a place in the circus, acting as a veterinarian, and avoids being thrown off the train.
Jacob then meets and falls for Marlena, a beautiful performer in the circus. She is married to August, the animal trainer. August is a twisted man who believes that hurting animals is the best way to train them. But Jacob knows better. And this comes to a head when the circus takes on a new animal, an elephant named Rosie. At first, it seems Rosie is untrainable until Jacob realizes that Rosie knows Polish, not English. At a few commands, Rosie is performing with the best of them.
But tensions rise when August discovers that Jacob has feelings for Marlena. And Jacob doesn’t know that his love could destroy an entire circus and bring it to the ground.
Written during a time in place when love is something most people couldn’t afford to have, Water for Elephants is still a story of hope that love will conquer all. But that love comes at a cost, and Jacob and Marlena must decide whether to leave together or stay apart for the sake of the circus. It’s a highly recommended book and has a well-done film adaptation.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Taking a turn for the strange, we have Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Geek Love is a story about a traveling carnival run by a family head by Aloysius “Al” Bionwksi and his wife “Crystal” Lil, along with their children. When their carnival begins to fail, they must make a radical decision: they develop an idea to breed their freak show using drugs and radioactive materials to alter their children’s genes. The experiment succeeds, as much as you might say that, and it turns their children into a multitude of altered humans.
The second storyline follows the daughter of one of the freak children, a girl named Miranda. She does not know that her mother is one of the carnival freaks. Miranda, being the byproduct of a strange telekinetic pregnancy, has a small tail. She meets a woman who tries to convince Miranda to remove her tail and make her into a sex object. But Miranda’s mother, who has been spying on her daughter, sets out to save her daughter from such a fate.
Geek Love has been hailed by critics as ushering in a “modern, freak show vibe.” There are many words to describe this book, such as beautiful, upsetting, dark, and tragic. Lovers of the weird and twisted will enjoy the freak show that is this book and be prepared for a little bit of uncomfortableness along with it.
A Circus Can Inspire the Imagination
Craving cotton candy yet? We’ve just been through a strange journey of books that take place in circuses and carnivals, from the magical to the weird. But through it all, these are stories about people, not just the circuses, and their struggles, hopes, and dreams.
Written by Nicole Madigan
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