Circus people don't ask who you were before, or what god you believe in… when you join the circus, you are family, whatever your past.Paris, 1940. Twenty-year-old Michel Bonnet lives on the edge of the law, finding work where he can breaking in horses on the outskirts of the city. But when the Nazis invade, Michel takes refuge as a stowaway on a rickety train bound for the rural south. It’s a journey that will change his life forever.
The train is property of Le Cirque Neumann – a travelling circus owned by the troubled and irritable showman Werner Neumann. Neumann offers Michel a job caring for the company’s horses – a lucky break, but with an unusual condition attached. Michel must keep to himself and never speak of what he sees behind the glittering curtain of the big top.
But as Michel finds himself pulled into the strange and wondrous world of the great spectacular it becomes more difficult to keep his promise. Why does the man with the performing monkey never speak, and the sword swallower turn his face away? Who are the silent, shadowy figures who flit like moths between the wagons when the sun is down? It’s clear that Neumann is keeping his performers hidden away… but why?
And how can Michel win the love of the beautiful and exotic trapeze artist Freida – the graceful, green-eyed star of Neuman’s spectacular – when he’s been forbidden to even meet her gaze?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Ringmaster's Daughter to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The minute I saw the cover for Carly Schabowski’s debut novel The Ringmaster’s Daughter my interest was piqued as it reminded me of Water for Elephants and The Night Circus two books which I loved in the past. The cover for this book is absolutely stunning and it would make you want to buy the book just for the cover alone. I did think it would have some similarities to the books mentioned above but this was not the case at all so if you are expecting a comparable read it will not deliver the same sense of wonder and awe that a book specifically about circus may do. Instead this is a character driven story set during World War Two based around a travelling circus. I would never have given any thought as to how circuses and travelling shows would have coped with what the onset of war brought to them so this alone was an interesting focal point to the story as I had never read anything like this before.
The Ringmaster’s Daughter had a very strong opening with such fantastic vivid and descriptive writing and this very visual writing continued throughout and really helped me picture the various settings and dramatic scenes in my mind. As the story begins it’s Summer in Paris which should be a lovely and relaxing time for the residents but all is not as it seems, fear and danger lurk around every corner as the city is eerily empty. People have fled as the Germans draw ever nearer in their bid to claim the city for themselves. Michel Bonnet is returning home to his small apartment. He no longer has his job which was looking after horses and he wonders what is keeping him in a city that will inevitably dramatically change from what it once was but Paris has always been his home yet the adventurer in him is stirring. He does not wish to fight but where can he go? His neighbour Bertrand, himself a widow, made a promise to Michel’s mother that he would keep him safe. So a plan is set in motion to flee Paris. Michel is taken to the train station and through one thing and another he finds himself alone and on a train venturing to god knows where.
After such a strong and tense opening I was hoping things would continue in this manner but until the last quarter or so of the book things just seemed to go along at a slow pace with not much happening to move the story on. It didn’t grip me as much as it should have until I reached the final section. Michel soon discovers he has landed on a circus train. But this circus is not what it once was and all the glamour and amazing and magical acts have lost their sparkle. Instead fear and danger are common place as the troupe must travel to wherever they feel some form of safety can be found. They are all weary with little or no pay and food becoming ever scarcer to source. The circus has become more of a fairground than anything else with little or no animals and performers dropping out or disappearing off into the unknown. They are struggling to eke out an existence and feel they will all not last the war how ever long it may rage on for. By the time Michel arrives, the circus is reduced to pitching up in small villages and performing some tricks for a few coins. There was certainly a varied cast of characters amongst the troupe and you could tell once long ago that the circus was an exciting place to be and life on the road was wonderful and such an enriching experience for every member to showcase their unique talents but sadly this was not possible anymore.
Michel feels he was meant to meet this circus and that he is there for a reason which at the moment is unknown to him. After all he really has nowhere else to turn to so he may as well stay here as long as is possible. Michel is given the chance by the ringmaster Werner to prove his worth and talent with horses. If he can train a certain horse and maintain the care of the others he will be allowed to stay and travel with the troupe but at the same time he must keep to himself. Werner was a man not easy to work with or for and he was full of rage, angst and imposed many rules. Much later on the reasons for this became clear and everything made much sense and I saw a different side to Werner and my opinion of him quickly changed.
Michel was good with the horses but I felt he didn’t make as much of an effort to interact with the different people he encounters despite the warnings Werner had given him. I thought he could have stepped outside his comfort zone just that little bit more and played a bit of a game whilst keeping on the good side of Werner if this was at all possible. I felt we never got below the outer layer of Michel or indeed many of the other characters we meet. Things felt superficial at times and I thought more in-depth exploration of characters was needed so the reader could identify with them more. There was so much potential to learn more of the backstories to the different characters and how they came to be in Werner’s circus but we were only given tantalising little titbits. Towards the end I understood why this was the case as there was a major surprise which I should have seen coming but didn’t and I came to appreciate why lots of things throughout the book were so secretive but still just a little bit more information and more page time for perhaps the likes of Odelie and the giant Jean Jacques and dwarf Giordano would have been great.
The Ringmaster’s Daughter did have some intrigue which intensified in the latter half and of course love and romance did feature too. A line on the cover says it is heart-breaking love story and I really did feel this in the very last section as then I did really identify with what Michel was going through when it came to the more personal romantic side of his life. I couldn’t believe after everything he had been through that it had come to this and I really felt his despondency and devastation. To say anymore would be to give things away but the last quarter or so the action really ramped up big time and I got what I had been longing for throughout the entire story. There was drama, tension and nervous energy and a sense of everyone working together. Good against evil but what possible outcome could there be?
The author has shone the spotlight onto a little known aspect to the war as inspired by the true story of an Austrian circus owner during World War Two. She has done so to great effect in some parts but in others the story felt a bit flat as if it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. Was it a World War Two story or was it a story about the circus? For me, it lost its way for the mid part before finding its path towards the end.
Carly Schabowski is a bright new talent and it’s clear to see what fantastic potential she has writing in this genre if perhaps there was more of a clear focus as to what the book overall wanted to be it would have turned this into an outstanding read. I’ll definitely be eager to see in what direction the author will venture next and what more wonderful characters and settings she will create. The Ringmaster’s Daughter is a good read that for the most part I did enjoy but it didn’t have me as hooked as I had expected to be but still it is well worth the read.
No comments:
Post a Comment