There's a circus that arrives unannounced and only opens at night and has a black/white theme - the circus of dreams.
In the 1870s Hector Bowen (Prospero), who can do real magic, starts to train his 5 y.o. daughter Celia for a competition against his old friend, who chooses a schoolboy, "Marco", to train. The boy works for Lefevre, who plans to create a special circus.
In 1885 Prospero dies, remaining as a sort of ghost. Celia auditions for LeFevre's circus. She's taken on. Marco (who does the admin for LeFevre) knows that Prospero's daughter's been accepted as an illusionist, and fears that she will be his opponent. Isobel and Marco meet on the street. Isobel asks Marco if her card-reading skills would get her a job in the circus.
The circus opens in 1886. Red-haired Poppet and Widget are born to one of the acts on opening night. While Marco stays in London, the circus tours the world. Isobel sends him letters. The ghost of Celia's father visits her, telling her that he doesn't know who her opponent is, but that the circus is the venue.
As a dare, Bailey sneaks into the circus during the day. It's quiet. A little girl ushers him out. She gives him her glove as evidence that he can show his friends.
After a gap of years, the circus returns to Bailey's town. His father wants him to look after the farm. He wants to go to Harvard. He goes back to the circus to find the girl. It's Poppet. They talk. Poppet reveals that there have been no births in the circus since her and her brother.
Thiessen, who made a special clock for the fair, maintains an interest, one of a secretive bunch of followers. The people associated with setting up the circus have stopped aging. Marco learns from Mr Barris, a founder of the circus, that Celia is his opponent. Barris helps both of them. At a party held by LeFevre, Celia realises that Marco is her opponent.
One of the regulars at LeFevre's midnight meals, Tara (sister of Lainie), dies after being curious about what the circus really is.
Poppet invites Bailey to join the circus.
Celia and Marco fall in love. They want to leave the circus together, but a spell forbids it. The fire constantly burning in the centre of the circus gives him the power to control his parts of the circus. She controls the rest. He tells Isobel that he loves Celia. Isobel removes a spell over the circus that was holding it together. Alexander visits the circus and makes LeFevre murder Thiessen. Celia and Marco sleep together for the first time, and the circus fire goes out.
They learn that the rules are few. They learn that the loser has to die. Celia's trying to make the circus independent of the 2 of them. Rather than only one of them dying, they end up both as ghosts, dependent on the circus. When Bailey catches up with the circus they ask him to be the new caretaker. He agrees. The last chapter is set in the circus decades later, in the age of e-mail.
Other reviews
- Claire Messud (I am a reader who should have hated this novel; yet I found it enchanting, and affecting, too, in spite of its sentimental ending.)
- stephenwriter (Bailey is the character I connected with the most. ... However, the main narrative focuses on Celia and Marco. Destined to compete against one another in an enduring game that is never properly explained, they are initially developed well. However, as the book moved on and the game continued to lurk in the background without ever coming to the fore, it was hard to understand as the reader what the point of it all was.)
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