A book recommendation for those cold Christchurch winter nights – the Times Literary Supplement calls it “A glorious piece of work… The narrative has a splendid ripe momentum, and each descriptive touch contributes a pang of vividness.”

Dont be fooled by the manky cover! This is a good read!

Don't be fooled by the manky cover! This is a good read!

That is the review given to Angela Carter’s book called Nights at the Circus. Far be it for me to agree with the critics but this 1984 winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize was an entrancing read.

This novel focuses on the life and exploits of its main female character, known as Fevvers. Fevvers is – or so she would have us believe – a Cockney virgin, hatched from an egg laid by unknown parents ready to develop fully fledged wings. The story takes place in 1899 at which point she is a celebrated aerialiste, an outrageous performer who captivates the young journalist Jack Walser during an interview. Walser runs away with the circus to better pursue and understand his fascination with Fevvers but falls into a world that he is ill prepared for.

This novel contains an assortment of weird and wonderful background characters: a sisterhood of prostitutes, a one-eyed madam who dresses as Admiral Nelson, side-show freaks, circus performers, prescient pigs, contract writing chimps, dancing tigers, shamans and escaped female inmates of a Siberian prison, to name but a few.

Read this! Your regrets will be few and your wonder tangible!