THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

From the Back Cover

The circus arrives without warning.  No announcements precede it.  It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements.  It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.  But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway–a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.  Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.  Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love–a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.  True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

My Thoughts

Reading THE NIGHT CIRCUS is, above all, an experience.  Morgenstern has created an incredibly dreamlike atmosphere in the Cirque des Rêves with the perfect amount of magic and intrigue.  I read THE NIGHT CIRCUS on a particularly stormy Halloween night, cozied up with a blanket under my twinkly lights, and it was absolutely divine.

“Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone.”

I would describe THE NIGHT CIRCUS as literary fantasy.  It’s a great choice for those who typical read general literature but want something a bit more fantastical.  I tore through Morgenstern’s mystical tale of star-crossed lovers; though I think some would describe THE NIGHT CIRCUS as lacking in plot, which may be true, for me there was enough of a story to keep the novel moving along at a good pace.  The emphasis is surely on the atmosphere and writing, the amazing world that Morgenstern has crafted, but still I was not able to put it down.

“Secrets have power.  And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well.  Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them.  Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it.  So it’s really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”

THE NIGHT CIRCUS is the perfect autumnal read.  Dripping with ambiance and surrounded by an air of magic and mystique, I quickly fell in love, unable to put it down.  Like Harry Potter but for adults, Erin Morgenstern’s debut THE NIGHT CIRCUS is a book I can picture myself re-reading time and time again.