The Night Circus

AUTHOR: Erin Morgenstern

PUBLISHED: 2011

GENRE: Fiction; Fantasy

This book was a recommendation from the wonderful Jan Sparrow at Words! bookstore in Asbury Park (go check it out!).  And what a recommendation it was.  There’s only one problem with reviewing a book like this.  Its plot is so intricate, its characters so sensuous, its landscape so flowing that the only thing a reviewer can really say is read it.  Anything else seems lacking in the face of it all. 

Morgenstern’s debut novel (debut!) is set in the wondrous world of Le Cirque des Reves, a circus that arrives without warning and disappears just the same.  The black-and-white world of Le Cirque is open only at night, when customers come to wander the never-ending tents, each housing its own special act – a contortionist, a fortune teller, an animal trainer.  But not all the tents are traditional circus acts.  Some house fantastic illusions – an entire room frozen in snow, even in the heat of summer; a staircase of clouds; a burning cauldron that never goes out and where the flames change colors on cue.  At the heart of the story are Celia and Marco, who are connected to each other in ways they themselves do not even understand, and a contest, one with deadly consequences, one that takes over the circus and everyone in it.

Perhaps the best word to describe Morgenstern’s prose is fluid.  Her words flow over the page, drawing the reader in.  Fantasy novels are notoriously hard to write convincingly, and generally appeal to a small, devoted audience.  And yet The Night Circus breeds no disbelief or hesitation the reader’s mind, even for a moment.  The world is so complete as to prove completely believable.  You can almost hear it: the rustle of a silk skirt, the whipping of a tent flap, the clink of fine glassware being met in a toast.  In contrast of all those times where I questioned the logistics of a story, The Night Circus is proof that I am still able to get lost in a book enough to not worry about the specifics of it all. 

It is hard to explain unless you have read it, but Morgenstern’s world is lyrical and luxurious, an enchanting dream from which you dread having to wake.  I cannot imagine how long it took Morgenstern to write The Night Circus.  I can only hope she can find the strength to build another world soon.

LENGTH: 400 pages

MAINSTREAM OR NOT?: Not particularly.

SO, SHOULD I READ IT OR NOT?: Yes.  I don’t care if you don’t like fantasy, or romance, or beauty.  Read it anyway.  Maybe it’ll warm up your cold, cold heart.