I just finished reading this a couple of days ago. A well crafted story about a traveling circus in the depression era 1930's, Sara Gruen has successfully married careful research with interesting story. Some of the plot twists are not too believable, but the descriptions of circus life more than make up for it.
"Rubes" enjoying the many illusions and delights get no glimpses into the hidden world behind the curtains.
Ruthless and surprisingly barbaric for just seventy-five years ago the reader gets a peek into a system with little outside accountability. Abuse of power was the name of the game and atrocities, the by product. Warning: animal cruelty alert. But there is human cruelty also. In "Elephants" I learned about an old way employees were fired. Redlighting. Throwing people off moving trains was especially common if they were short on cash to pay employees or if they were getting on in years.
This world had its own justice system too, but I won't do a spoiler.
The depression era was a forbidding time and many powerless people became chattel to the unscrupulous and manipulative. Jacob and Marlena made it out with a combination of love, resourcefulness, and luck. Having an elephant on your side doesn't hurt either.
3 comments:
I read this & was gobsmacked by it. I stayed up all night reading! It is one of my al-time fav books.
I will be reading this one eventually. I admit, that I've been hesitant as I am not a big circus fan, but my friends assure me it's well worth reading. :-) Great review!
This is on my TBR list. And I was interested in your mention of "redlighting" - I'm reading a book about the circus (Rain Village) right now and that term was just mentioned.
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