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Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus, Anchor, 2012.387 pp.

The Night Circus suffers from one major drawback when it comes to attracting readers whose idea of a good book involves the opposite of sparkly vampires. The main plot line involves magic and a doomed love story.

This book is not for the reader whose attention will wander unless presented with new developments on every other page- Ramona Depares

For a generation of genuine book lovers still suffering the effects of Twilight, this is a definite turn-off. However, those who dismiss this book by putting it in the same category as what passes for a young adult plot, nowadays are doing a very big disservice to the writer, Erin Morgenstern.

The only element this book shares with those of the Twilight ilk is the element of magic – and even here, the approach is child-like, rather than childish and will have you sighing in wonder as opposed to rolling your eyes.

The plot line follows classic fairy-tale material: Celia has lived most of her life learning the craft of magic from her emotionally-challenged father, Prospero the Enchanter (thus named in a very apt nod to The Tempest).

The sole purpose is to pit her against Marco, another young magician trained by his nemesis. The challenge is a lifelong one, binding the two young magicians until death.

Rather predictably, Celia and Marco are drawn to each other and much to their guardian’s irritation from the very first few chapters it becomes obvious that it’s not just the challenge that binds them, but love. As is to be expected from this type of story, their love threatens to destroy everyone whose lives they touch.

This is where the predictability ends. What makes this book worth reading is not Morgenstern’s choice of plot,but rather her mastery of the English language and her descriptive prowess.

Her priority is not to rush the reader into the next twist of the plot, but rather to make sure that before anything new happens to the main characters the reader is totally familiar with the chosen setting, which changes practically with each chapter.

This book is not for the reader whose attention will wander unless presented with new developments on every other page. Rather, it is for those who want to picture the world that these characters inhabit in every minute detail. Morgenstern manages to achieve this without making us lose interest in the plot.

This is mainly thanks to the richness and inventiveness of her descriptions: she even manages to make the folds of a ball-gown come alive in one particularly memorable passage. It came as no surprise to read that Morgenstern’s first calling was not that of a writer, but of a visual artist.

Most of the ‘action’ happens in a travelling, circus that has been artificially created through magic.

This circus is presented as an ever-changing world within a world, with its inhabitants shielded from everything that happens outside thanks to the magic being inadvertently created by the lovers/antagonists.

This magic comes with a downside: as Celia and Marco give in to their love, the world around them literally starts to crumble.

In the tradition of all doomed lovers, the two are faced with an impossible choice. As the book rushes towards its surprising conclusion, the reader is left unsure until the very end.

The conclusion is clear in fact, but not in intention, and you are left pondering whether this qualifies as a happy ending or not.

Which is probably exactly what Morgenstern’s wanted to achieve. An enchanting debut novel, if you’ll pardon the pun.