Set within a few years of the Crimean War, the Circus of Wonders follows the life of Nell, a young woman who is sold by my her father to Jasper Jupiter's Circus owing to the fact that she was born with birth mark's covering her body and is seen as a money making enterprise by the showmen if the time.

Elizabeth Macneal packs the novel with lots of historical facts about the lives of people who were seen as 'freaks' who were owned by men like Barnum. The novel is populated by strong, feminist characters whereas the male characters although on the surface have all of the power underneath are weak. The secondary plot which deals with the Crimean War was fascinating, I wanted more of this in the novel. Macneal has clearly done her research which makes the book a very dark read at times.
Thanks to Netgalley for offering me an early copy.

Nell is living with her father and brother, hiding away from the world due to her birthmarks which her father thinks are a curse. Until one day she is discovered by Jasper Jupiter (or rather his brother Toby) and brought, initially unwillingly to his circus of wonders. There she finds a place for herself where she no longer needs to hide away. But no one should be bigger than Jasper himself and when crowds gather to see Nellie Moon Jasper is less than happy.
Really enjoyed this book. It’s links to PT Barnum are really interesting...he is the yard stick to which Jasper measures success. I loved loved the characters and the relationships between Nell and the others acts as well as Jasper and Toby really drew me in.
I adored The Doll factory and was really excited to read this next Elizabeth MacNeal and wasn’t disappointed

A truly riveting look at the ‘freak show’ phenomenon in Victorian Britain. A lot of really interesting historical fact mixed with an interesting story about love, family and greed.

Captivating from the start, with beautiful rich prose. The story of Nell, a young woman with skin speckled with birth marks, who is sold to a travelling circus by her father.
This is a story about love, hate, loyalty and obsession. With a great cast of characters, like Stella the bearded lady. You'll soon find yourself drawn into the world of the exciting and often macabre circus life.
I loved this.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

A richly detailed and sumptuous novel by the author of The Doll Factory. She writes Victorian times well as her research is impeccable and this time we delve into the inner workings of the Victorian circuses. I've never understood or liked circuses so it was interesting to find out about how they came about and why Barnum etc were so celebrated. Only now do we see how wrong they are, but I was interested to learn how people of that time say and appreciated them. This feels so authentic that I think the author must have transported herself back to the times of such a circus and met someone like Nell. It's all so vivid and colourful with a overriding darkness.
There's more scene setting than plot as far as I see it, but the book is still a strong read and an immersive experience.

Circus of Wonders is a captivating historical novel about the spectacle and the dark underbelly of the circus world in the Victorian era. The novel takes us behind the tent of magic and wonder, showing instead the aspects to the era sanitised by the Greatest Showman. Here, the reader finds themselves in a cruel, cold world of caged animals and an exploited collection of 'freaks'.

The story follows Jasper Jupiter, the ambitious and power-hungry showman behind the Circus of Wonders, his overshadowed brother Toby as they try to create the show of their dreams. At the heart of the novel is Nell, whose birthmarks and performance give her the show-name Nellie Moon. Despite being sold to Jasper by her father, among other outcasts in the circus, Nell comes find power in her difference and her moment in the spotlight gives her a sense of belonging and worth. I loved the way Nell embraced her found family of performers and I thought Elizabeth Macneal handled the topics of being an outcast and bodily difference among the circus troupe very well. Their conflict between the circus exploiting them, yet giving them purpose was a delicate balance and one which came to a satisfying resolution.

I'm a newcomer to Macneal's writing but reading Circus of Wonders makes me even more eager to read The Dollhouse and her future work. Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

This books has bested The Doll Factory (not an easy task). The vivid sense of setting and time, the memorable characters, the dissection of siblinghood, the bloody backstory of Jasper, Toby, and Dash... any reader who once dreamed of running away with the circus will find that dormant desire awakened. This was a truly escapist read, something to sink into and enjoy, and I'm cross with myself that I read it too quickly and didn't draw it out for longer. Thank you #NetGalley, Pan Macmillan, and Elizabeth Macneal #CircusOfWonders

‘There’s more than one way to tell a story’.

South of England, 1866, and Nell has always felt different due to her skin condition and has tried to hide, wear clothes to cover up and be invisible to avoid stares. One night when her father is drunk he sells Nell to the owner of a visiting circus, Jasper Jupiter, who is intrigued by her unusual appearance and takes her from her village. Although a prisoner at first, Nell soon realises that the circus celebrates her differences, and she comes to view the others working for Jasper as friends and family, and enjoys her act as a flying wonder.

‘There is a freedom in her movements, as if she is unmooring herself from something, as if she has left her body behind.’

The public and press however will always view the circus folk as monsters, and Nell notices papers advertising the circus as a ‘Hall of Ugliness’. Finding love with Toby, Jasper’s quiet and shy brother, doesn’t come easy at first, but they learn to accept each other for who they are.

Although this is Nell’s story, Toby and Jasper have major roles in the novel, and we are told a lot of the story through their viewpoints and memories.

‘I snatches whatever I sees.’

An interesting character is one who only features through other characters’ memories but shapes the story through loss, lingering fear and resentment. Dash, a society gentleman and comrade from Crimea haunts the thoughts of Toby and Jasper, and years later still affected their lives.

‘All of history is a fiction.’

This novel delves into the darkness of the circus, into the troubled minds of the powerful and the powerless, and emerges as a story of growth, empowerment and acceptance. Although character driven, the setting in the Victorian golden age of the circus is almost a novel in itself. Avoiding lengthy descriptions, the discovery, innovation and technology of the time is alluded to through location and observation. We know where and when we are without being told.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this arc.

My thanks to Elizabeth Macneal, Pan Macmillan, and Net Galley for the ARC of CIRCUS OF WONDERS.
Elizabeth Macneal's THE DOLL FACTORY, is in my top 20 favourite books ever, and I couldn't help wondering how she would follow this amazing novel. I think she has done it with Circus of Wonders. In the late 19th Century, physical deformities were very popular as entertainment. It would never happen now thank goodness, we are all hopefully more enlightened, but there is a strong history of showmen like Barnum making money from exactly this form of so-called entertainment. The author handles this difficult subject very well and if we put aside our revulsion. we see that this is not just a story about entertainment, but about the history of the time, when Queen Victoria was on the throne, that without money or an income you would be thrown to the wolves and power over your own future was nil unless you used the only thing you had. The ending is very heartening; that Nell takes control of her life and decides to continue in the world of circus, exploiting her disfigurement for her own benefit. Circus of Wonders has not eclipsed The Doll Factory in my opinion, but it is a fantastic read.

Welcome to the Circus in 1866, England!

I knew I was going to enjoy this as I absolutely adored The Doll Factory, and this story did not disappoint. As soon as I started reading, I was quickly drawn in and submerged into Victorian England where I was introduced to Nell, a flower grower from a small seaside village. This is where I began the journey of learning how Nell became 'The Queen of the Moon and the Stars' in Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders.

This wondrous story is filled with deceit, jealousy, secrets and obsessions and is told from three different points of view, Nell, Jasper the circus owner and ring master and Jasper’s brother Toby. Through each chapter the story unfolds and entwine together as we learn of their dark secrets, dreams and desires.

I was entranced by this spectacular story right up until the end, and what I felt is one of the most perfect endings I have read in a while. I highly recommend this to everyone who loved The Doll factory and anyone who enjoys being submerged into the dark and peculiar world of Victorian England.

The bar was raised high when Elizabeth Macneal’s captivating debut ‘The Doll Factory’ was published in 2019 and there’s no chance of it slipping with her second novel, ‘Circus of Wonders’. Indeed, we are taken higher still as we stare up at Nellie, Queen of the Moon and Stars, flying above the marvelling audience of Jasper Jupiter’s travelling circus.
Macneal immerses the reader in the grubby, exploitative, magical world of the Victorian circus, made famous by the likes of Barnum and Bailey. The public desire for ‘freaks of nature’ and for exotic animals appears to know no bounds and showman Jasper and his loyal brother Toby take full advantage of this, displaying elephants and zebras, monkeys and lions, Stella the bearded woman and Brunette, the female giant. However, when Nell, a young woman covered in birth marks, is sold by her father to Jasper, she becomes the latter’s pièce de resistance, swooping high above her audience, her Icarus wings adding to the ethereal fantasy: ‘…there is a freedom in her movements, as if she is unmooring herself from something… she is natural, she is real.’
Initially terrified and desperate to be rescued, Nell comes to revel in the attention, in the hitherto unknown sensation of being important. It takes her longer to appreciate that Jasper really does hold all the strings – to him, she is no more than a living, breathing puppet. However, the circus women become her allies and she slowly grows in self-worth, not least when others begin to rely on her.
Macneal recounts Nell’s time with the circus in the present tense, giving the narrative an immediacy and vigour reminiscent of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy. However, when we are taken to the Crimea where Jasper is a devil-may-care soldier and Toby a war photographer, she moves into the past tense. This war is from another world, another time, yet hugely influential on the brothers’ psyches now. Whilst we may shudder at the cruelty meted out to the circus exhibits, we also recognise what many men suffered for Queen and Country. The author does not spare us from the brutality, the terror and the immorality of life on the battlefield.
This is a story about the dispossessed, the outcast, the abused living on the margins of society who, as ever, are given little respect. It is also the story of sibling loyalty and rivalry, of tormentors and victims. And it is a story about the power of storytelling; the comfort found in the happy ending, the magic that heals, the rescued princess. Nevertheless, Nell, learning pragmatism, holds up her treasured tales to the light: ‘Every writer, Nell thinks, is a thief and a liar.’ If that’s the case, then long may Elizabeth Macneal continue to thieve and lie: another thought-provoking, moving, wondrous story from this talented author.
My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I’m not sure on my feelings of this book


Having birthmarks all over my own skin, I thought I’d relate to Nell.

However, I felt uncomfortable reading about someone with potentially the same condition or similar as myself being sold to a circus.


Writing is beautiful and detailed, it’s just I felt uneasy as I felt I could be reading about how I myself would have been seen it born another time.

Having recently read "The Doll Factory" by Elizabeth Macneal, I was keen to read "Circus of Wonders". It has parallels with PT Barnum's story, which at the moment is popular due to "The Greatest Showman". Fans of PT Barnum and his sideshow freaks should enjoy this story.

It follows Nell who is sold to Jasper Jupiter's Circus of Wonders and it follows the evolvement of her circus act and friendships she develops.

A touching story and I'm keen to read more Macneal when published.

Elizabeth Macneal’s debut was The Doll Factory. It was a fantastic historical mystery set in London in 1850 during the Great Exhibition.

The Circus of Wonders is another historical novel set in 1866, again in London and surrounds featuring a wide range of colourful so called ‘monsters’ and the circus Jasper Jupiter creates in his vision to be the best showman ever in that highly competitive market that saw the rise of the likes of Barnum and others.

Nell is a young woman inflicted with birthmarks in patches all over her body. She is tolerated in her poor village but still looked at with suspicion. When Jasper’s circus comes to town, her drunken father sells her to him and Jasper envisages her being the star of his show as he eagerly sets about designing sets and costumes. Eventually accepting her lot and discovering that all the ‘freaks’ have their own feeling of importance and place, she gradually grows in confidence and attracts more and more attention to the annoyance of Jasper whose hunger for power and control dominates him. But he also has a history he is trying to escape which is revealed gradually through the story and the eyes of his hulking, quiet and submissive brother with whom Nell falls in love.

This is a totally engrossing novel. Highly visual and beautifully written. It is a story about belonging, love, control, creativity, loyalty, family, loss, memory, desperation, theatre and imagination. The Victorian period was dominated by excess, voyeurism and fascination with the weird and strange. This book is not only a wonderful story, but gives the reader a snapshot of this ostentatious period of history.

I loved this book from start to finish. After the scars of the Crimean War, Jasper and his younger brother Toby fulfil a childhood dream of founding a circus – Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders, offering employment and a sense of community to a group of societies misfits. It’s 1866 and a young woman called Nell whose body is covered in leopard spot birthmarks, is sold by her drunken father to the circus. At first determined to run away, she soon realises that she has found a family who appreciate her uniqueness and soon Nell becomes a star. To Jasper who has always craved fame, Nell threatens to become more popular than him, and when Jasper realises that she has also won the heart of his younger brother, he decides to take action that will threaten the lives and livelihoods of all the performers. The Crimean backdrop was intriguing, a mysterious death of a comrade, is a dark secret that haunts the brothers. Nell, Stella and the other female performers are strong and I loved the ending when the women find their own way in the world

I was so excited about "Circus of Wonders" but also slightly apprehensive, because I really loved Elizabeth Macneal's first novel, so had high hopes from the start. And... I loved it!. This is the story of Nell, a young woman who lives a solitary life in a coastal village, separated from others by birthmarks covering her skin. When the circus visits her village, her father sells her to the owner, Jasper Jupiter. As she performs and her fame grows Nell needs to decide who is she and who gets to decide what happens with her.

From the start Nell is a complex character - she is timid but also wants to be seen, while at the same time she is scared and hurt by the way people are looking at her, and see only an object not a person. In her circus companions she finds a family people who are like her, in a way, and learns from them to see her worth in herself. There is a perfect mix of personality flaws in all the main characters, agenda and doubt, glitz and hard graft, and the hard work people put in to the show that the public don’t get to see. There is also love and a need to belong that the author explores very well.
On top of that, there are so many other themes in this book that are worth thinking about! There is a morbid fascination with people who are different (Victorians were famous for their obsession with “freak shows” and this is very visible in the book)! Then there is the search for fame and how easy it is to fall out of grace and how precarious people’s lives must have been. Another theme is the photography from the Crimea as a source of stories that can be shaped the way people want to see them without necessarily being truthful... Other characters are also very well portrayed, especially Toby, who also wants to belong so badly and is forced to choose sides numerous times.

I also loved the end of Nell’s journey in this book and I breathed the sigh of relief, that it was not too sweet and overdone, but somehow it had a positive vibe about it.

Altogether, it is a page turning piece of historical fiction in which Elizabeth Macneal shows not only her writing skills but also her ability to create stories that makes you ask questions.

Circus of Wonders is an astonishing story about power and ownership, fame, and the threat of invisibility.

We get to know the characters in-depth and well due to the story being told from different perspectives of all important characters. Without giving much away, this is the perfect book for those who enjoy a dark, horror, and victorian style thriller. I would recommend, the description is perfect and the book cover is eyecatching and would make me pick it up off the shelf in a bookshop.