ClareR (5596 KP) rated Circus of Wonders in Books
Mar 15, 2022
Elizabeth Macneal has described what it is like to be on the margins of society - an outcast because you don’t look the same as everyone else. Nell lives in a time where you are shunned for having birthmarks such as hers. She is considered to be bad luck, a curse. Not helped by the fact that her mother had died in childbirth. Her father constantly reinforces this, and won’t even touch her. Nell’s beloved brother is her sole comfort. He cares for her, and promises to take her with him when he marries.
But Nell’s father sells her to Jasper Jupiters Circus of Wonders. Jasper is a man who is hellbent on being a success, and thinks nothing of using Nell and others like her, to achieve greatness. Jasper and his brother Toby, are both survivors of the Crimean war, and clearly carry many secrets.
Themes such as exploitation, ownership, differences, power, sibling love, secrets, love and loss are central to this book.
Nell is a constant surprise. She goes from being a scared, vulnerable girl, to becoming the centre of attention, in control of all those who come to watch her. This is the other side to the P. T. Barnum story. We’ve probably all heard of ‘The Greatest Showman’, but there’s the other exploitative side that seems to have been brushed under the carpet. This book shows that side.
I loved this book, and I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you all to go out and buy it!
Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution
Book
The fascinating and complex evolutionary relationship of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed...
Portfolio Society: On the Capitalist Mode of Prediction
Book
As financial markets expand and continue to refashion the world in their own image, the wealth of...
Beggar Thy Neighbor: A History of Usury and Debt
Book
The practice of charging interest on loans has been controversial since it was first mentioned in...
Library Analytics and Metrics: Using Data to Drive Decisions and Services
Book
This book will inform and inspire librarians, archivists, curators and technologists to make better...
Understanding the Global Economy
Podcast
The 2009 University of Chicago Teacher Institute on “Understanding the Global Economy,” provided...
Just Property: Volume Two: Enlightenment, Revolution, and History
Book
Property remains the bedrock of the societies we all inhabit. It underpins our core institutions -...
Saving the Oceans Through Law: The International Legal Framework for the Protection of the Marine Environment
Book
The oceans cover more than seventy per cent of the surface of the planet and they provide many vital...
The Industrial Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
Book
The 'Industrial Revolution' was a pivotal point in British history that occurred between the...
Advances in Cyber Security: Technology, Operations, and Experiences
D. Frank Hsu and Dorothy Marinucci
Book
As you read this, your computer is in jeopardy of being hacked and your identity being stolen. Read...