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Nights at the Circus

Angela Carter

Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction

From the master of the literary supernatural and author of The Bloody Chamber, her acclaimed novel about the exploits of a circus performer who is part-woman, part-swan

Sophi Fevvers—the toast of Europe's capitals, courted by the Prince of Wales, painted by Toulouse-Lautrec—is an aerialiste extraordinaire, star of Colonel Kearney's circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on a quest to discover Fevvers's true identity: Is she part swan or all fake? Dazzled by his love for Fevvers, and desperate for the scoop of a lifetime, Walser joins the circus on its tour. The journey takes him—and the reader—on an intoxicating trip through turn-of-the-century London, St. Petersburg, and Siberia—a tour so magical that only Angela Carter could have created it.

GenresCircusFictionCircus performersHistorical fiction

294 pages, 12 editions

English edition · First published 1984 by Penguin Books · ISBN 9780140077032

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Editions

12 editions

English

  • Nights at the Circus · Penguin Books · 1986 · ISBN 9780140077032 This page
  • Nights at the Circus · Vintage Classics · 2025 · ISBN 9781529955606
  • Nights at the Circus · Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio · 2018 · ISBN 9781978624405
  • Nights at the Circus · Windsor · 2013 · ISBN 9781471355349
  • Nights at the Circus · Windsor/Paragon · 2013 · ISBN 9781471355356
  • Nights at the Circus · Vintage · 2003 · ISBN 9780099458142
  • Nights at the Circus · Vintage · 1994 · ISBN 9780099388616
  • Nights at the Circus · Picador · 1985 · ISBN 9780330288361
  • Nights At The Circus · Viking · 1985 · ISBN 9780670803750
  • Nights at the circus · Chatto & Windus · 1984 · ISBN 9780701139322
  • Nights at the Circus · Chatto & Windus · 1984 · ISBN 9781409015338
  • Nights at the Circus · ISBN 9781867521235

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