The Ringmaster’s Daughter by Carly Schabowski is a romantic, historical fiction book set in World War Two in Paris. It is also the authors debut book.
A beautiful, poignant story that begins with Michel Bonet, who, when France is invaded by the Nazi’s runs away. He stows away on a train bound for the South, little does he know that this train ride will change his life forever. The train belongs to a travelling circus, Le Cirque Neumann owned by a troubled Werner Neumann, who employs Michel to care for the horses, as long as he speaks of what he sees behind the scenes of the Big Top and keep away from the circus folk. Michel begins to be drawn into the circus life and begins to question the odd goings-on. Like why are the circus performers seemingly hidden? what are the shadows flitting between the caravans after dark? He falls in love with Frieda the trapeze artist but how can he approach her when he is forbidden to.
The story is a poignant reminder of why the Second World War was so horrific. The fact that no one was safe if they were different and the love that was forbidden because it puts everyone at risk. Also, the tragedy that everyone has in their lives and the secrets they keep. This was a beautifully written story, full of details of circus life in the Big Top and away from it. The characters are exquisite in detail, really drawing me into their lives and really caring what happened to them all. A story that deals with difficult issues of which, some are still very apparent today and deals with them very well. A fantastic book all round. Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the copy of the book in order to be part of this blog tour.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 