LiterariLeigh

“You think, as you walk away from Le Cirque des Rêves and into the creeping dawn, that you felt more awake within the confines of the circus.

You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.”

I have here in my hand an ordinary top hat. You can see there is nothing inside. Now I wave my magic wand and say "Abracadabra"! And presto, I pull a rabbit out of my hat! (audience applauds).

That's what I think of as a basic magic trick. Some slight of hand, a little misdirection, and hopefully a well behaved bunny. When I was a kid my brother could do some pretty neat tricks, and I loved reading about Houdini, or watching David Copperfield or Doug Henning specials on TV.

Erin Morgenstern's debut novel The Night Circus has at it's core a rivalry between magicians. Bonded by embedded rings, Celia and Marco possess gifts that create wonder, beauty, and surreal realities. But both are manipulated by their guardians into a lifelong game that can have only one winner. Set in the time of Victorian London, they become an integral part of The Cirque des Rêves, or The Circus of Dreams. The language, imagery, invention and creativity allowed my mind to visualize what was being described - from the black and white of the tents, to delicate ice flowers, to falling through clouds - and encouraged imagination. I just fell into the world of the book.