This book was an incredible read. With much of the book taking place on a traveling circus, the story has elements of mystery and magic that made it captivating from the very start. As the story unfolds, the richness of the plot becomes clear, exploring the relationships between a father and daughter, the daughter and a young Jewish boy, the friendships of those on the train, with world war 2 as a historical backdrop.

This was such a unique book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would highly recommend this for those that enjoy historical fiction.

I just reviewed The Circus Train by Amita Parikh. #TheCircusTrain #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published December 6, 2022.

I was intrigued because I enjoyed Water for Elephants and The Night Circus but I was nervous because I’m not a big fan of historical fiction.

This book sucked me in immediately and I finished it within a day. It was incredible! First there’s a traveling circus. Theo is an illusionist and Horace is the extremely wealthy, money-hungry owner.

Then there’s Lena, his daughter. She has polio and can’t walk. Her main friend is her nanny Clara. She loves to learn and spends many a lonely day in her room reading.

Then there’s Alexandre, who Lena finds beat up in one of the train cars. We don’t know much about him but he befriends Lena so Theo is happy for his daughter.

So much happens in this book. You will laugh and cry and get angry and be happy - all the emotions! It’s brilliantly crafted and was so engaging! I truly felt like I was living during WW2, experiencing the magic of the circus, the sadness over Jewish concentration camps, the fierceness for Lena who overcomes so many obstacles and relief that Theo and Alexandre finally share their secrets.

Trust me. This book was superb. Put it on your TBR list!

How does a person become resilient?
Amita Parikh’s debut novel, The Circus Train, introduces us to a variety of characters who all show resilience, but in different ways.
Imagine traveling through Europe on a circus train during World War II. There’s a daughter coming of age as she overcomes the obstacles of polio, the dad who is the circus illusionist, an orphaned Jewish boy with his own secrets who becomes like family, and various others who support and challenge them along the way. The war brings separation, loss, and a story of star-crossed lovers, revealing each characters’ resilience.
As the story progressed, I found myself rooting for Lena. She was resilient from the beginning, showing persistence and strength as she came of age in this novel. I especially enjoyed that she was curious and inquisitive and that those around her encouraged her every step. She is the definition of resilient.
Read this book for a newer perspective on World War II historical fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

The Circus Train

Amita Parikh

Pub Date: 06 Dec 2022

The Circus Train is a historical fiction with a twist: life in a traveling circus! The author did a wonderful job capturing the wartime period while showcasing the magical atmosphere of a circus. The story focuses on Lena who caught polio as a baby and has physical disabilities. Her father, Theo, is an illusionist in the circus who while providing for Lena's education by way of a tutor, also tries to shelter her from the outside world. Lena longs for a friend...and one day she rescues a young boy. Alexandre becomes her best friend, but he gives her more than just friendship. He believes in her and gives her purpose and a will to try impossible things. Their relationship was just so pure, and I loved how they each wanted to be better, stronger people because of the other.

The book was divided into different sections/timelines and had different character point of views. I was intrigued throughout the book and was invested in the outcome of each character. Wonderful book!
4 stars

Amita Parikh's Circus Train draws you into an exotic recipe of delightfully complex and captivating characters, seasoned with Indian wisdom and a bit of magic with interesting parallels throughout. A story that will be savored long after it is read and hungry for her next novel.

The premise is so intriguing and promising! However I found the story falling flat over and over, I not feel any of the energy from the circus or aspects of a traveling one at that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.

I found this to be a beautiful, atmospheric read. I thought the characters were well written and vivid, the setting was captivating, and the pace was right on the money. The book is about a young girl who lives on a circus train with her father. She's physically limited by a bout of polio she had as a baby. She's grown up as an outsider in a world of opulence on this circus train that travels around Europe, but she wants to be able to find freedom and mobility. When she's a preteen, a boy not much older than her is found and becomes her closest confidante and through him, she beings to have the courage to reach for more in life. To walk. To wish for school. For love.

Told during the tumultuous WWII years, it touches on war, loyalty, growth, and change.

Who doesn't love a circus? This particular circus was mesmerizing, amazing and certainly held everyone's attention Theo was the brilliant illusionist who created the most illuminating displays that held the audience captive as they traveled through Europe at the start of WWII. Unfortunately, his daughter Lena contacted polio at the age of one and was wheelchair bound. As much as she admired her father, she was more interested in. science and medicine. She led a lonely life, as she was shunned by both young people and older ones because of her disability. Things change when she rescues a young Jewish boy, Alexandre, who is trying to escape antisemitism that is spreading through Europe. Theo takes Alexandre under this wing and trains him as an apprentice, yet when all seems going smoothly, both Theo and Alexandre are captured by the Nazis. There they are taken to a concentration camp. where they remain for a good part of the war. As a WWII novel, it was quite different from the typical stories inundating us today. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an exceptional and highly breathtaking read! I was enthralled in The Circus Train and had a hard time even putting it down. This is an amazing debut and fans of historical fiction (especially those set during WWII) won't want to miss this one.

A fantastic debut by Amita Parikh, This story struck me hard and just captivated me page after page!! The story being revealed slowly over time - and not in quite the way I expected - made this book exciting and hard to put down!

Lena is a young girl in the 1940s navigating not only life with a disability but growing up with her dad, Theo, in a circus troupe. Her gloomy life changes when she finds a friend in Alexandre, the lost orphan who was found in the train and is later employed by her father as his assistant to work at the circus. As the story and the train travel through the war torn events in Europe, Lena is separated from Theo and Alexandre.

This book is full of action and adventure, love and loss, coming of age. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and Amita Parikh for this advanced reader copy.

It is very difficult to combine a love story with historical fiction. In The Circus Train, Anna Parikh is able to use the setting of World War II and an unusual Circus Train to set the scene for an engrossing novel. I was unaware of the Nazi concentration camp marketed as a resort for Jewish entertainers and artists. She also fits interesting bits of knowledge about polio victims and their treatment at the time. I will be recommending this novel to my book club when it is published, there is so much to discuss. The characters are well developed and believable and the descriptions are complete and clear. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.

I really wanted to love this book. The description was very promising. I loved both The Night Circus and Water for Elephants, and I would not quite put this up there with those. It was heavier on the historical fiction, and therefore some parts dragged for me.

A wonderful debut novel by Amita Parikh! I loved this historical fiction novel centering on a circus during WWII. It is a beautifully told story with very strong characters. Highly recommended!

Water For Elephants (which is alluded to) its not, but a damn fantastic read it is regardless! Set in one of my favorite fictional era's, this author knocks it out of the park!

I really enjoyed this. The story is compelling and the characters are relatable. Though this time period may feel a bit overdone, this story is different and well worth reading. It manages to be original without also seeming unbelievable.

A young girl basically grows up in a travelling circus in Europe. She is suffering the aftereffects of polio. When the Nazis come to power, they cause problems for the members of the circus, some of whom belong to ethnicities targeted for eradication. A traveling circus does seem like a good place to hide from their scrutiny. And you'll have to read it to find out how it all plays out.

You had me at WW2 and circus.

The story follows the relationship of a father and his young daughter in 1940 in a circus. Lena (the young girl ) befriends a boy named Alexandre, who opens her world up beyond the circus. Lena has a disability her father wants her to save in her safe little bubble; with Alex's help, they both grow to allow Lena to gain her independence. Absolutely beautiful writing. Amita has me hanging on until the very last page. This was a great read, and I think if you enjoy historical fiction, you will love this one.

Thank you to NetGalley & G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed this WWII-era fantasy historical fiction novel. It’s got love, sacrifice, circus glitz, illusion, deep family ties and even early handicap diagnosis and recovery, which I found very interesting in a historical fiction novel set in this time. Though I usually prefer a historical fiction novel that is based on a true story, Circus Train is entertaining and included many real-life elements that historical fiction lovers can cling to while reading about what inspired the story. All in all, an enjoyable and different look at life during WWII for those not directly impacted by the war.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Set in Europe during WWII, Lena lives in a train associated with a traveling circus that her father is the star illusionist in. Lena, who suffered polio, as an infant is confined to a wheelchair on board this train. Though there are other children her age on the train, she feels incredibly lonely and ostracized due to her physical condition.

It isn’t until an orphan boy, Alexandre, a Jewish boy running for his life from the SS aboards the train that Lena makes the best friend she has ever had. Though always smart and motivated, having a friend believe in her gives her all the more willpower to stretch her physical and mental capabilities.

WWII historical fiction is my favorite genre to read. This book is different than most of the others I have previously read due to its distinct viewpoints - from a circus train, from a young Greek girl confined to a wheelchair. Parikh weaves together a beautiful story with strong character development and a beautiful story that contains secrets, love, loss, and life.

Lena is a young girl in the 1940s navigating not only life with a disability but growing up with her dad in a circus troupe. Upon befriending a young boy, Alexandre, her world begins to open up beyond the constraints of circus life as her overprotective father struggles to reign her back in to the safe bubble he’s created for her.

The father daughter relationship is beautiful and reflective of when a young girl is becoming a young woman while a dad must also grow in allowing her to become more independent.

Lena has supportive people in her life, thankfully, who give her courage and help her take opportunities, especially in a time period where opportunities for women, especially a disabled person, are slim.

Alexandre’s presence in Lena’s life is another source of joy and comfort but the question remains, is that enough to carry them both?

I found this book’s time and place to be intriguing and loved following the characters through their trials and seeing where they would end up.

I loved The Circus Train for the ways that Amita Parikh brings to life all these beautiful characters as well as placing you into the time period and being able to envision the settings and events that occur for Alexander and Lena.

I have always loved the WW2 period as a history major and I love how Parikh brings this period to life and shows us places such as Greece and their reaction to the war as well as bringing to life the impact of polio on the population of the world.

I was enraptured by the circus and the descriptions of the acts and illusions that were involved and this book is like a Circus act: beautiful, mysterious and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I loved this book and look forward to reading more from Amita Parkih!