Audiobook
£0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
£3.79

Paperback
£8.99

Buy used £3.79

FREE delivery 18 - 21 August. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Brit_Books

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

See all 2 images

Follow the author

Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus Hardcover – 15 Sept. 2011

by Erin Morgenstern (Author)

4.3 41,576 ratings

Editors' pick Hand selected reads

See all formats and editions

In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Rêves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire.

Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the rêveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter's daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer's apprentice. At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love...

A fabulous, fin-de-siècle feast for the senses and a life-affirming love story, The Night Circus is a captivating novel that will make the real world seem fantastical and a fantasy world real.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harvill Secker
Publication date

15 Sept. 2011
Dimensions

16.2 x 3.5 x 24 cm
ISBN-10

184655523X
ISBN-13

978-1846555237
See all details

Erin Morgenstern
2,271
Paperback
21 offers from £6.74
Erin Morgenstern
16,512
Paperback
42 offers from £4.09
V. E. Schwab
76,165
Paperback
31 offers from £5.31
Erin Morgenstern
38
Paperback
5 offers from £17.99
Garber
14,461
Paperback
37 offers from £2.80
Olivie Blake
9,568
Paperback
28 offers from £2.14

Popular highlights in this book

What are Popular highlights?

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
Highlighted by 1,781 Kindle readers
“We must put effort and energy into anything we wish to change.”
Highlighted by 1,356 Kindle readers
“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”
Highlighted by 1,218 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

Product description

Review

"The Night Circus made me happy. Playful and intensely imaginative, Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for and she has populated it with dueling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty and complicated clocks. This is a marvelous book."--Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife

"This must be one of the most beautiful novels of the year. Its die-cut cover, black-edged pages and intricate endpapers attest to the publisher's hopes that Erin Morgenstern's magically minded debut will secure the vast audience left bereft by the conclusion of the Harry Potter chronicles"--The Observer

"Dark and dreamy; a captivating love story"--Stylist Magazine

"Dazzling"--Marie Claire

"Lushly imagined, extremely charming and very, very readable"--Scotland on Sunday

"Morgenstern displays a conjurer's dexterity as she develops her tale, and you'd need a heart of stone not to melt at the melodramatic denouement."--Daily Mail

"The narrative is deft and satisfying, and the author's talent is intriguing"--Times Literary Supplement

"Enchanting, and affecting... I was compelled by the world itself--by its saturated colours and textures, its unexpected smells and tastes. It is--a surprisingly rare thing in fiction--a strikingly beautiful world, in spite of its darkness."--Claire Messud, The Guardian

"Morgenstern's writing, when it comes to magical creations, is delectable, addictive stuff... [it] leaves a tang of smoky caramel in the air as it ends, and an undeniable urge to go to the circus"--The Sunday Times

About the Author

Erin Morgenstern is the author of The Night Circus, a bestseller that has enchanted readers around the world and has been translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in Theatre from Smith College, an ever-growing collection of jewellery made from skeleton keys, and a cat on her lap. She lives in Massachusetts.

www.erinmorgenstern.com

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvill Secker (15 Sept. 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184655523X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846555237
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.2 x 3.5 x 24 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 487,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 4,500 in Occult Horror (Books)
- 6,630 in Contemporary Fantasy (Books)
- 11,923 in Fantasy Romance (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.3 41,576 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Erin Morgenstern

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

ERIN MORGENSTERN is the author of The Night Circus, a number-one national best seller that has been sold around the world and translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in theater from Smith College and lives in Massachusetts.

twitter & instagram: @erinmorgenstern

http://erinmorgenstern.com

http://www.facebook.com/erinmorgensternbooks

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

41,576 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

TJ

Easily my favourite book of 2023 (out of 30)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2023

Verified Purchase

Reading this book was the most whimsical, magical and joyous experience. Why did this end...?? I want more. Definitely reading other books by this author.

Helpful

tonythereader

Major Tim Burton vibes!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2021

Verified Purchase

I think this just became one of my favourite books. It’s very unique, and I can totally imagine this being made into a Tim Burton movie.

The circus arrives without warning, and is only open at night. Within the the black-and-white striped tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amusements. Behind this façade, a fierce competition is underway between two young magicians, Celia and Marco. They do not know that only one of them can survive, and that the circus is nothing but a stage for this remarkable battle of imagination and will. Things only get worse for them when they fall headfirst into love; the game must still play out and the fates of everyone involved in the circus hang in the balance.

The setting of this book was very interesting, well thought out and extremely unique. The circus was described so well that I found it really easy to imagine myself walking round it and exploring each of the tents. I loved that it was set during Victorian times, and I found it very easy to visualise it like this. One thing I did find confusing was that the book jumps back and forward in time and it was often quite difficult to remember that things were not happening chronologically. Underneath each chapter title is a descriptor showing where and when the events are taking place and I often had to look back to see where in the timeline certain things were happening.

I will say that this book doesn’t really have a plot, and we basically just see the day-to-day (or should I say night-to-night!) running of the circus. This is not really bad thing in this case, as it is quite satisfying to see the circus developing and the relationships building between the characters. I enjoyed reading every page about the circus. I was a bit annoyed that the two main characters seemed to fall in love almost immediately, and they do not really meet properly until halfway through the book. However, because the book takes place over a number of years, the relationship probably developed behind the scenes. I normally hate reading about relationships, but I loved these two characters and wanted to read more about how this relationship developed. It was almost as if a lot of scenes had been cut out of the finished book. The book also doesn’t really have a proper climax, and I was very underwhelmed with the last fifty pages or so. There isn’t really a duel like the blurb describes. These were very minor drawbacks for me as I loved the book as a whole, but will still stop me from giving it 5 stars.

I loved each character individually; they were all well written and different from each other. They were almost too perfect - none of them seemed to have any flaws. Celia and Marco were lovable leads and I rooted for them being together. I think Bailey was my favourite character overall - I loved reading about his discovery of the circus, his relationship with his family and his little adventures with Poppet and Widget, who I also loved. The man in the grey suit was very mysterious, and I got the impression that he was supposed to be written as the main villain, but he didn’t seem that threatening to me. I felt really sorry for Isobel, and how her love for another character was never requited, and I really thought she would react in a really negative way when she finally discovers that he loves someone else. Celia’s father really annoyed me throughout the whole book, but thought he was written very well - it was really easy to see how much Celia really didn’t like him.

If you haven’t read this book yet - you should! I loved escaping into its world even though it wasn’t really a story with a lot of excitement in it.

4.5/5 stars.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Perry Wolfecastle

Vibes upon Vibes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Okay, I need to get my thoughts in order with this one.

I didn’t like how the main premise we’re told is so important doesn’t make up very much of the story all told, and I’m not a fan of how we move up and down the timeline. The plot is a little thin…

yet…

The vibe of this book is incredible. I devoured it, not to find out what happens to Celia, nothing to do with Marco, Bailey, who? I wanted to be fed the magic of the circus.

I like to think it was all intended, the effect of the circus on its visitors and those around it jumping out of the page to ensnare the reader in much the same way. I’ll be wearing a little mark of red in the future.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

rainbow

Slow to start

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 July 2023

Verified Purchase

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this book. Although some parts were ok. Basically I couldn't grasp the story of it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 February 2020

Verified Purchase

I'd been meaning to read this book for a while now, and certainly it came with high expectations.
The essential premise the book is built around is that of a 'game' being played out between two competitors, Celia and Marco. The two have been pitched against each other from a young age by their respective teachers, 2 magicians with very different schools of thought; the venue for this competition being the Night Circus.

Firstly, what I loved about this book - the setting and sense of atmosphere evoked is simply enchanting. The Night Circus is like something out of dreams, and Morgenstern captures it so vividly with her descriptions - not just visually, but in a way that appeals to all the senses, you can literally smell and taste the circus. I also liked how the story started off with a sense of mystery, and thought there was a good set up for the 'game' to be played out between Celia and Marco. There are a host of colourful characters throughout, some loveable like Poppet and Widget, others shrouded in mystery.

The 'game' being played out between Marco and Celia gets complicated by their developing feelings for each other, and the evolving romance between them plays out sweetly and in a dream-like way that fits the tone of the book.

Whilst the concept of the story and the setting were really good, I was ultimately left a little disappointed in the story's actual execution. Once the 'game' is underway and the Circus set up, not much actually seems to happen until the end of the story. The tone gets a little darker as it progresses, with suggestions that the magic involved at the Circus can have repercussions, and also as the 'game' draws closer to its conclusion. However, for me personally Morgenstern was rather too vague in her allusions to all not being quite right at the Circus. I would have liked to know more about the implications Marco's and Celia's magic had, particularly as it transpired that the challenge was not so much about what wonders they could produce, but rather how they managed the consequences.

In parts it seemed as if Morgenstern had sacrificed actual plot progression and substance for her lyrical prose and descriptions of the Circus, and whilst I very much appreciated the latter, I would still have liked more 'meat' to the actual story.

There are different time frames in the book, and a whole sub-plot that follows a character called Bailey. Whilst I appreciated how this fitted into the book overall, I thought perhaps a little too much time was spent here, and again at the end it was as if things just conveniently came together, with the right person being at the right place at the right time.

Overall an interesting and unique read, but not quite living up to all the hype for me personally.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

lucy

A nice read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2023

Verified Purchase

Some beautiful descriptions in this book and I think it had a really good pace

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food

Follow the author

The Night Circus Hardcover – 15 Sept. 2011

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Product description

Review

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Erin Morgenstern

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.