Lena and her widowed father, Theo, a master illusionist, join a traveling circus before WWII. The circus is called World of Wonders for its opulence and a cast of very talented circus performers. Lena is confined to a wheelchair due to polio that she contracted as an infant and feels very much an outlier among the children traveling with the circus due to her disability. When she discovers an injured boy her age in one of the circus cars, she and her father nurse Alexandre back to health and he becomes Theo's apprentice and Lena's good friend. The boy's passport indicates that he is Jewish, so they are determined to destroy it before it is found by the SS.

Their family is torn apart, leaving Lena very much on her own during the early days of WWII. Unbeknownst to her, Theo and Alexandre are taken to a concentration camp while she believes they have perished in a fire. After extensive physical therapy, she is able to walk and has made her way to a tutor she had in the circus, who establishes her in a boarding school. Following the war, they are reunited, and Theo divulges a secret.

Their circumstances require a suspension of disbelief, but it is interesting historical fiction. ( )

An illusionist, his daughter, her tutor, and an orphan travel through Europe on a circus train until WWII rips them apart.

Theo is the World of Wonders' illusionist; his daughter Lena's mother died just after she was born, and Lena caught polio at a young age and uses a wheelchair. Her tutor, Clara, ensures she has an excellent education, but Lena wants to have friends her own age. Her prayers are partly answered when Alexandre appears on the train, and thanks to Lena and Theo's intervention, is able to stay and train as an illusionist as well. As Germany becomes more aggressive, Theo plans to get himself, Lena, and Alexandre to safety in the United States, but the circus master discovers the plan and turns them over to the Germans. Theo and Alexandre are taken to Theresienstadt, but Lena thinks they're dead; she goes to Clara, who takes her in. Only years after the war are they reunited, and Theo has one last secret to reveal.

Quotes

Lena Papadopoulos didn't believe in magic....Lena's world was rooted in reality....Lena's disability had taught her a harsh truth: she was different, and people didn't like different. (30)

It was the pity that she hated more than anything else, the feeling she got from others that her life was somehow less because of her physical disability. (42)

"You know, just because someone says you have to be a certain way, or only do certain things, it doesn't mean you have to listen." (Johannes, 42)

"Sometimes the people who love us most hold us back because they want to protect us." (Clara to Lena, 120)

"Your greatest achievements often grow out of the worst circumstances." (Clara to Lena, 174)

When everyone else was busy telling her what she couldn't do, Alexandre had always seen what she could. (348) ( )

4.5, felt like the last few chapters were rushed? But other than that, great story, character development, descriptions etc ( )

This book has been hailed as a cross between The Night Circus and Water for Elephants, but I have to say, aside from all being about circuses, they don't have that much in common. The Circus Train has much to offer, but I can't say it's in the same league as either of the two books to which it is compared.

Considering this book on its own merits, though, is much more flattering. Beginning before WWII, Parikh weaves a story of a circus that might or might include actual magic, and the illusionist (Theo) and his daughter (Lena), who had polio as a baby and now uses a wheelchair. There's a lot of build-up and character establishing, but tensions build as WWII heats up, and the story really gets going when things explode between Theo and the circus owner. Theo and his protégé (Alexandre) are sent to Theresienstadt and forced to perform for the Nazi guards in their guests. Meanwhile, Lena, believing both to be dead, makes her way to England in the hopes of finding her former governess, at which point the real question becomes, will Lena and her father and Alexandre ever be reunited?

Parikh draws her characters well, and her protagonists will all be found sympathetic and writing brings the setting vividly to life. And yet, I still felt let-down by the marketing hype.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review. ( )

Lena Papadopoulos is the daughter of a master illusionist. Life has not been easy for Lena and Theo. Her mother died when she was an infant, and she contracted polio, which left her confined to a wheelchair. Things get somewhat better when Theo joins World of Wonders, A traveling circus. It becomes a home, almost a family, yet Lena still feels like an outsider due to her disability. When she discovers an unconscious boy her own age in the kitchen car, she could not have known that he would become her first real friend. Alexander's passport reveals that he is a Jew. The Nazis have begun to take over Europe, so the circus family agrees to protect him. Alexander has the gift of intuition, and it is decided that he will train as Theo's assistant.

The novel is split between the World War II period and Lena's life in the early post-war years, after circumstances have torn her family apart. Much of it deals with the changes in her relationships with Theo and Alexander and the secrets they have kept hidden, but also with her struggle towards independence.

I have to admit that while I didn't hate this book, I struggled to finish it, mainly because I am not a fan of YA books and coming of age stories. There were some surprises but also a lot of predictability, and the writing sometimes faltered (a number of real clunkers). Hence the mediocre rating. ( )