The Night Circus: Summary and book reviews of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, plus links to an excerpt from The Night Circus and a biography of Erin Morgenstern.
The Night Circus A Novel
by Erin Morgenstern
Hardcover: Sep 2011,
400 pages.
Paperback: 4 Sep 2012,
400 pages.
Rated Best Debut Novel of 2011 by BookBrowse Members
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.
Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.
24 BookBrowse members read The Night Circus, giving it an overall rating of 4.9 out of 5.0 - our highest rating ever for a First Impressions book (out of more than 250 books reviewed to date)! Here's what they have to say:
The prose is beautiful but not too simplistic, the fantasy images are easily understood and vivid - almost real. The descriptive narrative is so clear and concise that your mind slips easily into the circus at night - and with such intensity it's startling (Louise J). I find myself staring into space remembering parts of this wonderful book and not wanting to come back (Arleen L). Thank you to Ms. Morgenstern for reminding me why I am a reader (Debbie V)! (Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
Sheryl Cotleur, Book Passage
Reading a novel like this is like being asked to come out and play - exhilarating! [The Night Circus] is smart, inventive, creative, thoughtful, wise, pleasurable, and imaginative beyond measure. This is a fantastic story.
Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. Self-assured, entertaining debut that blends genres and crosses continents in quest of magic… Generous in its vision and fun to read. Likely to be a big book - and, soon, a big movie, with all the franchise trimmings
Library Journal
Starred Review. Debut novelist Morgenstern has written a 19th-century flight of fancy that is, nevertheless, completely believable. The smells, textures, sounds, and sights are almost palpable.
Booklist
Starred Review. This big and… compelling first novel ushers in a menacing tone with its first sentence. With appeal for readers not particularly geared to fantasy but who plainly enjoy an unusual and well-drawn story, this one will make a good crossover suggestion.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Debut author Morgenstern doesn't miss a beat in this smashing tale of greed, fate, and love set in a turn of the 20th-century circus. Supporting characters… are perfectly realized and live easily in a giant, magical story destined for bestsellerdom. This is an electric debut on par with Special Topics in Calamity Physics.
Sheryl, Shelf Awareness
It's imaginative beyond belief. I haven't read a book in years that is this imaginative and completely plausible.
Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife The Night Circus made me happy. Playful and intensely imaginative, Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for and she has populated it with dueling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty and complicated clocks. This is a marvelous book.
Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife
A riveting debut. The Night Circus pulls you into a world as dark as it is dazzling, fully-realized but still something out of a dream. You will not want to leave it.
Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Pure pleasure... Erin Morgenstern is a gifted, classic storyteller, a tale-teller, a spinner of the charmed and mesmerizing - I had many other things I was supposed to be doing, but the book kept drawing me back in and I tore through it. You can be certain this riveting debut will create a group of rêveurs all its own.
Lindsey McGuirk, Village Books in Bellingham
Reading this book made my heart flutter. It feels like the first time you see the night sky completely void of light pollution. Reading it is like being surrounded by lightning bugs. I felt like a child seeing an amusement park for the first time. I adore this book.
Jamie Fiocco, Flyleaf Books
A reader's trifecta! I don't know what to love the most; the captivating story, the richly detailed lives and trappings of the players, or the thoughts I'm left with now that the reading is done. I'm so impressed with Erin Morgenstern's powers of imagination and her storytelling. What a treat!
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Tillie H Magic vs reality A wonderful book where magic and reality are blended together. The reader is quickly drawn in to the uniqueness of the circus, as well as the lives of Celia and Marco and the contest they must complete. Drawn together by a bond that was forced upon... Read More
Rated of 5
by Daveann Swept away I absolutely lived this book!!! It was mystical, imaginative, unique and creative! I would love to see Erin write a sequel and a prequel. I am suggesting it in my book club and giving it away in a book exchange. Thank you for the entertainment, I... Read More
Rated of 5
by Louise J Purely Magical!!! Erin Morgenstern has done it! “THE NIGHT CIRCUS” has definitely lived up to the hype and hoopla. This is a purely magical and enchanting story that will fit the bill for every reader. The prose is beautiful but not too simplistic, the fantasy... Read More
Rated of 5
by Chris (Wauwatosa, WI) The Night Circus This was a book I could not put down! The characters are fascinating and so memorable. The settings, interactions, and conversations are fantastically described. I could see it all and imagine being there.
The overall setting of a circus is... Read More
Rated of 5
by Juli S. (Portland, OR) Elegantly entertaining This was a beautiful, exciting, sad, happy and altogether elegant story. The author created a world in which I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself. I intentionally waited to read it until I had time to read it in just a few sittings. I’m glad I did.... Read More
Rated of 5
by Hannah B. (Portland, OR) The Night Circus I really enjoyed this book! The style of writing is unique in that the perspectives and point of view changes quite frequently throughout the book as each chapter is told through the voice of a different character. The author is wonderful at... Read More
The use of magical motifs in Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, The Night Circus, helps make it a unique and fascinating read.
But the literary device is by no means new. Magic can be found in some of the oldest, most revered pieces of literature throughout history, as in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. In fact, his play served as an inspiration for Morgenstern's novel.
In The Night Circus, Prospero the Enchanter maintains a magical persona and attempts to control his daughter's life, much like his namesake in The Tempest, who has the ability to call on spirits and charm his daughter Miranda to sleep.
When confronted with these similarities in an interview with TribLive, Morgenstern admitted that her story shares various themes with both The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. She explains, "Some of the Shakespearean aspects actually came up...
Prospero, the sorcerer on whose island of exile William Shakespeare set his play, The Tempest, has been captured and imprisoned in Hell, and time is running out for his daughter Miranda and for the great magician himself.
From the celebrated twenty-nine-year-old author of the everywhere-heralded short-story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves comes a blazingly original debut novel that takes us back to the swamps of the Florida Everglades, and introduces us to Ava Bigtree, an unforgettable young heroine.
These are 2 of the 5 readalike suggestions for The Night Circus. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
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But the literary device is by no means new. Magic can be found in some of the oldest, most revered pieces of literature throughout history, as in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. In fact, his play served as an inspiration for Morgenstern's novel. 
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