The Night Circus

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

First published in Great Britain in 2011.

This book is wonderful.  It is magical.  It is mysterious.  It entices you into a dream world and wraps you in its secrets.

The first time I read this book I was enthralled with the language and imagery.  The characters were so well written that they stayed with me long after I finished reading.  I know that sounds like such a cliché but I honestly don't think it happens all that often.

The story is set in the late nineteenth century, and centres around a circus which appears with no warning and only opens at night.  It becomes an international sensation, with people travelling to visit it.  Behind the scenes are a group of performers, including contortionists and magicians.  Two of these magicians are Celia and Marco.  Magically tied to each other before they even know of the others existence, each is trained by a mentor in the magical arts.  Their mentors are playing a game, the circus is their playing field and Celia and Marco their pawns.  Although on the surface the circus is a wondrous surprise, the game takes a sinister turn as it becomes clear that there can only be one winner.

The book intersperses chapters from different characters points of view with chapters written in the second person.  These place the reader in the story as a visitor to the circus and makes you feel as though you are meeting the people in each chapter.  Rather than following a straighforward structure, the plot switches between times, characters and places.  This fits well with the idea of the circus being an endless group of circles of tents and winding paths; I felt as if I were wandering through the story, at times rather dreamily and with a page-turning urgency at others.

Celia and Marco are becoming two of my favourite literary characters.  Individually they are intriguing, but together they are a fierce power couple to be reckoned with.  Without giving too much away, yes there is a love story here, but it is so beautifully written that I would dare anyone not to champion them.
Herr Thiessen is a seemingly small character who grows with the story, and is one I was particularly drawn to.  He is a clockmaker who makes the circus's amazing clock and becomes a 'revêur', a follower of the circus.  I imagined myself to be friends with him if I were in the story.

Like the visitors to the circus, each time I read this book I find myself drawn to a different aspect of it.  If you want a brilliantly told story with a magical aspect then add this to your bookcase.