“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
I don’t remember whether I was big on circuses as a kid. Fairs and carnivals were always fun, but I always went mainly for the rigged games. If Le Cirque des Rêves had been in town at the time though, I’m sure I never would have left.
In the later part of the 19th Century, a small group of compatriots out plans during one of Chandresh Lefèvre’s famous Midnight Dinners for a lavish circus, spanning a field of tents, each with different performers, surrounded by various extravagant foods, extraordinary rides, and the brilliance of magic. The circus would open similar to Chandresh’s dinners—only at night, opening at nightfall, closing at dawn. After its time in a town, they would pick up and relocate.
Unknown to most of the original minds behind the circus however, that it was much more than just an exhibit, but also the setting of a game begun years prior. The game, set between Celia— daughter of Prospero the Enchanter, and Marco— the adopted child of Mr. A. H— tests both persons’ skills at magic and deception. As the opponents try to understand the game, their magic continues to bring the circus alive, as well as its members.
Blending fantasy and magical realism with historical fiction, Morgenstern crafts words and phrases together in The Night Circus so beautifully that each page made me feel as if I actually were walking through Le Cirque des Rêves, taking in the wafting scent of caramel, wandering through the Birdcage room of the Labyrinth, experiencing the acrobats performing without a net, or simply witnessing the wonder of Celia the Illusionist.
If I were currently a fan of the circus, I don’t think I could return to another Barnum & Bailey show again after experiences Le Cirque des Rêves.
After reading The Night Circus, I have joined the ranks of the rêveurs, wearing a hint of red in a black and white circus. I invite you to tag along.
The following is a book trailer I found on Amazon. It doesn’t come close to doing the atmosphere of the book justice, but it’s a start.
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