THE NIGHT CIRCUS. A Novel

New York: Doubleday, 2011. First edition. Hardcover. A nearly fine copy in a nearly fine clean dust jacket. This copy is signed and inscribed by the author (on the page after the copyright page). A fantasy novel originally written for the annual writing competition National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) over the span of three competitions. The novel has a nonlinear narrative written from multiple viewpoints. A phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an historical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise. Le Cirque des Reves (The Circus of Dreams) features such wonders and "etheral enigmas" as a blooming garden made all of ice, acrobats soaring without a net, and a vertical cloud maze where patrons who get lost simply step off and float gently to the floor. The circus has no set schedule, appearing without warning and leaving without notice; they travel in a train disguised as an ordinary coal transport. A network of devoted fans styling themselves "reveurs" (dreamers") develops around the circus; they identify to each other by adding a splash of red to garb that otherwise matches the characteristic black and white of the circus tents. The magical nature of the circus is disguised under the guise of legerdemain: the illusionist truly transforms her jacket into a raven and the fortune teller truly reads the uncertain future, and both are applauded for their ingenuity. 387 pages.