The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Le Cirque de Reve is not like any other circus you have ever known. It doesn't all take place under a big top, but rather in several tents throughout a pavillion. It is only open at night. The color palate is exclusively black and white, down to the performers costumes. Each act is singular in its originality, delighting audiences of all ages with feats of illusion, conjuration, skill and more. It is led, not in name, but in practice by Marco and Celia. Both are locked in a battle they didn't ask for, but in which they must continue to participate. This is no ordinary playing field. Rather, they are evenly matched in a competition to enhance the circus, to delight all who enter.

Five-year-old Celia is brought to her father, Hector Bowen (aka Prospero the Enchanter), after her mother's untimely death, and brought up for this competition. He teaches her true magic: how to manipulate perception, reality, and even objects. Year after year, she struggles under his tutelage, bound to a mysterious opponent she doesn't know. He teaches her to repair injury to both objects and herself. She watches him perform these feats for audiences unaware of the true nature of the events, and marvels at the audacity.

Marco is plucked from an orphanage, by the ever mysterious Mr. Alexander H, for the same purpose. He is brought up almost exclusively alone. Reading is his primary occupation as he learns to enchant, charm, and create glamours. His solitary life is lonely at times, but he wants for nothing in this new life...except friends. One day, he is moved into a new flat away from his absentee adoptive father. Apparently he is considered an adult, and expected to fend for his own. On the recommendation of his tutor, he secures a job with Chandresh Lefèvre as a personal assistant. It is through this association that the Circus is formed.

Recruiting brings in contortionists, fortune tellers, acrobats, animal trainers, and more. This is to be a circus unlike any other, a feat to delight all ages and backgrounds. Celia is brought on as the Illusionist, and while Marco learns of her identity and her role in their game...Celia is kept ignorant. The two hover around each other, creating ever more magical attractions: a room with scents that transports you to another place, an ice garden where even the trees and flowers are crafted from ice, a cloud tent, a maze of mirrors, and more. Always more.

Celia pesters her father for more information about the game, and is always met with the same answer: she needs to try harder, and everything else is unimportant. As the web around them grows tighter, Celia and Marco begin to gravitate toward each other. One fateful moment, she realizes that he is her opponent, and something starts to change between them. As if locked in prophetic orbit, the two begin to fall in love.

All around them, the circus flourishes. The Revers spring up; a group of Circus afficionados who build a community around this singular experience. The Murray twins, born on opening night of the Circus, begin to develop mysterious powers of prophecy and insight. Years pass, and the performers and administrators of the Circus do not age a day. The game is having a larger effect than anyone anticipated, and the outcome may not be a happy one. Can Celia and Marco reconcile their feelings with their duty?

Magical prose is artfully woven into a delight for the imagination. This book is heavy on description, so avoid it if that is not your style. However, I would say it is not overly so. This adult novel is highly recommended for teens and adults. Fun fact: this is her debut novel, and she wrote it during NaNoWriMo.

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that... there are many kinds of magic, after all.” (Morganstern, 2011).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

Morgenstern, Erin. (2011). The Night Circus: A novel. New York: Doubleday.