The Circus Train

My December Book of the Month selection was The Circus Train by Amita Parikh (the other options were Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun, Babel by R. F. Kuang, All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham, and The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton). I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially fiction set during World War II, so I enjoyed this. After his wife dies in childbirth and his infant daughter Lena suffers from a bout with polio which leaves her paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, Theo Papadopoulos takes a job as an illusionist with a magnificent traveling circus. The World of Wonders travels all through Europe in a luxury steam engine with many opportunities for the intelligent and ambitious Lena, but Theo is strict and overprotective because he fears for her safety. When Alexandre, a young orphan boy with a mysterious past, is found hiding on the train Lena feels like she has found her first friend and soon they are inseparable. However, as Europe is plunged into a war, Alexandre and Theo are arrested and become separated from Lena. She is forced to fend for herself for the first time in her life and discovers that she is stronger than she ever imagined she could be. I really loved the character of Lena because she is so strong and resilient. Not only must she overcome her own disability, but she must survive the atrocities of World War II and, when the war is over, she must defy the limitations placed on women to become a doctor and, ultimately, forgive the two people she loves most for their betrayal in order to find happiness. I love it whenever a woman, a disabled woman no less, is able to achieve something that society says she cannot do! I also really enjoyed the romance between Lena and Alexandre because I am a sucker for star-crossed lovers and I like the fact that they are both outsiders who find strength in each other (although I found the resolution to their love story to be rather convenient and a bit rushed). I was very impressed by the descriptions of life in the Theresienstadt Ghetto during the war and I could definitely tell that this aspect of the novel was meticulously researched. I was a bit disappointed that the same care was not given to the circus setting because I had a difficult time visualizing what the various compartments on the train looked like (I especially wanted to know what the giant maze created for Lena looked like and how it fit inside of the train) or how the illusions were performed (particularly the escape from the water tank because it plays such a pivotal role). I've seen this compared to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen multiple times but I think the circus setting is the weakest element in the plot and it does not play any real role in the narrative once the war begins. I loved this novel as a historical coming-of-age story with elements of romance and I definitely recommend it as such rather than the circus story it is being marketed as.