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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
Animal cruelty including brutal horse treatment; circus violence; a murder
Language
Some
Period and circus vernacular; some profanity
Sexual Content
A lot
Explicit love scenes between Jacob and Marlena
Substance Use
A lot
Prohibition-era drinking; significant alcohol use among circus workers
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Living in fear of a volatile, violent man; moral compromise; the guilt of loving someone else's wife
What this book is about
Jacob Jankowski joins the Benzini Brothers circus after losing everything in the Depression and falls in love with Marlena, the star equestrian — who is married to August, the volatile and genuinely dangerous circus manager. Gruen writes with vivid sensory detail; the circus world is brutal and beautiful, and the love story is explicitly adult.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Animal cruelty depicted
Explicit sexual content
Domestic violence/volatile antagonist
Significant alcohol use
Reader Verification
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