It takes an island… #Arran #Scotland #friendship

Thanks to Barb for sharing. Stories like this reaffirm your faith in humanity.

Barb Taub

Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.
—A Bottle and a Friend, Robert Burns

A thank you letter to Arran.

Some weeks ago, I turned to Arran, the small Scottish island I call home, for help. Two friends and I had hoped to get together on Arran last April. Because of the pandemic, we postponed it to this year. But between continuing covid restrictions that left me marooned in Italy, and life-threatening health issues that came up for each of my friends, we realized that wasn’t likely either. (You can read about their personal, sad, funny, and amazingly life-affirming cancer journeys on Mary Smith’s Cancer Diaries and Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo.)

The solution, for anyone who has ever lived on Arran, was obvious. I posted a message on the island’s…

View original post 445 more words

The Ladies of the Secret Circus, By Constance Sayers ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 23rd, 2021

469 Pages

Synopsis: 

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder—a world where women tame magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. But each daring feat has a cost. Bound to her family’s strange and magical circus, it’s the only world Cecile Cabot knows—until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate love affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2005: Lara Barnes is on top of the world—until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Desperate, her search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals and sweeps her into the story of a dark circus and a generational curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. (Goodreads)

The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a darkly magical read, that I enjoyed so much I didn’t want it to come to an end. The first quarter of the book delves into the life of Lara in 2004/2005 as she struggles to move on after the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé on their wedding day. You find out a little bit of her background, and her family’s magic, but the real revelations come when her great-grandmother Cecile’s journals fall into her hands. The majority of the book alternates from Jazz Age Paris to the early 2000s and what Lara discovers involves the supernatural, star-crossed lovers, a family curse, and the question of what you’re willing to sacrifice to save the one you love. It’s exquisitely told and although it’s almost 500 pages long, I had to make a concentrated effort to slow down. There are so many elements to this atmospheric novel: demonology, history, art, circuses, and magical realism. Sayers skillfully builds layer upon layer, until I felt as though I was within the pages of the book. There’s a little bit of romance but this isn’t really the focus of the story. All that’s left to say is that The Ladies of the Secret Circus is creative, mesmerizing storytelling at its finest, and perfect for fans of The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.