Author: Constance Sayers
Publication Date: March 23, 2021
Book Description
From the author of A Witch in Time comes a magical story set in Jazz Age Paris and modern-day America of family secrets and lost love set against the backdrop of an extraordinary circus.
Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder—a world where women weave illusions of magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family’s circus, it’s the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything.
Virginia, 2004:Lara Barnes is on top of the world, until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. When her desperate search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals, Lara is swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love.
Soon secrets about Lara’s family history begin to come to light, revealing a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé’s mysterious disappearance
Book Review
The Ladies of the Secret Circus is an interesting and unique novel that grabbed my attention the whole time. The story alternates between the past and present. The past and present collide in an interesting twist. Paris 1925 there is a secret circus that only people with a ticket can see. Cecile grew up in the circus with her twin sister. Virginia 2004 Lara’s fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Every 30 years a young man disappears on this day in the same spot. Everyone has secrets that are revealed. Some secrets have been in the family for generations. I recommend The Ladies of the Secret Circus to anyone looking for a story of mystery, family secrets and magic.
Thank you Book Sparks and Redhook for The Ladies of the Secret Circus.
About the Author
Constance Sayers is the author of A Witch in Time and The Ladies of the Secret Circus.
A finalist for Alternating Current’s 2016 Luminaire Award for Best Prose, her short stories have appeared in Souvenir and Amazing Graces: Yet Another Collection of Fiction by Washington Area Women as well as The Sky is a Free Country. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.
She received her master of arts in English from George Mason University and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts in writing from the University of Pittsburgh. She attended The Bread Loaf Writers Conference where she studied with Charles Baxter and Lauren Groff. A media executive, she’s twice been named one of the “Top 100 Media People in America” by Folio and included in their list of “Top Women in Media.”
She lives outside of Washington DC. Like her character in The Ladies of the Secret Circus, she was the host of a radio show from midnight to six.
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