Books like Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

In the coastal village of southern England in 1866, a young woman named Nell, distinguished by birthmarks, works picking violets and lives close to the sea. Her life is upended when Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders arrives and she is taken from her family, sold in exchange for a leopard girl. Succumbing to the circus’s allure, Nell gains fame across London as the “eighth wonder of the world,” drawing crowds and becoming a celebrated performer. Amid the circus’s successes and rivalries, Nell develops friendships with fellow performers and a budding romance with Jasper’s brother Toby, whose own hidden past complicates their growing bond. The narrative follows Nell’s journey from village solitude to the dazzling pleasure gardens of Victorian London and later to the battle‑scarred plains of Crimea, examining power, ownership, fame, invisibility, and the struggle to remain true to herself.

First publish date: 2021