Review by Booklist Review
When Dutch teen Noa is thrown out of her house after her father discovers she is pregnant by a German soldier, she finds refuge in a circus. She has an infant in tow not her own, which was taken by the Reich, but one she has rescued from a boxcar full of Jewish babies. Also finding refuge in the circus is celebrated aerialist Astrid, whose husband, a German officer, has divorced her because she is a Jew. Herr Neuhoff, the circus proprietor, orders her to train Noa on the trapeze, and despite Astrid's misgivings, the two develop a bond. As the circus leaves its winter quarters and travels into France, danger mounts. There will be trouble if it becomes known that Herr Neuhoff is harboring Jews, and Astrid's lover, Peter, a Russian clown, insists on ridiculing the Germans in his act. Meanwhile, love blooms between Noa and Luc, the son of a Nazi collaborator. The busy plot with its combination of circus life and wartime peril will keep Jenoff's (The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, 2015) fans intrigued.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestselling author Jenoff (The Kommandant's Girl) depicts two disparate women thrown together by destiny, each hiding a secret from the Nazi regime. Noa's Dutch family kicks her out of the house after an affair with a Nazi soldier leaves her pregnant. She gives up the child, but in her new life as a train-station washerwoman, she finds a boxcar full of Jewish infants. She rescues one and flees, nearly freezing to death in a distant forest where she is rescued by a member of the famous German Circus Neuhoff; Noa claims the baby is her brother. Astrid Sorrell (born Ingrid Klemt) is forced to separate from her German officer husband when the Reich forces all Jewish intermarriages to be dissolved. A former star in her now-depleted Jewish family's circus, she, too, finds refuge with the rival Circus Neuhoff, where her Jewish identity will be hidden, and now her boss forces her to teach the pretty Noa the art of the trapeze. Will Noa be able to perform and keep her baby safe? Will anyone discover Astrid's true identity? Despite their different backgrounds, they find comfort and trust in each other's friendship. Against the backdrop of circus life during the war, the author captures the very real terrors faced by both women as they navigate their working and personal relationships and their complicated love lives while striving for normalcy and keeping their secrets safe. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Decades after World War II, an unnamed woman visits an exhibit about circus history at Paris's Petit Palais. She's there to check a secret compartment on the railcar from Circus Neuhoff, the last place she called home before fleeing Nazi guards. Could the survivor be Astrid, a Jewish woman divorced by her German husband to save his military career? Or could it be Noa, a young girl rejected by her parents once they discovered she was expecting the child of a German soldier? Jenoff's latest historical novel (after The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach) focuses on the emotional relationships of these two women from the challenging circumstances that surrounded the birth of their friendship to the romantic attachments they formed. Her authentic depiction of life in the close quarters required in a traveling circus offers readers a understanding of the familylike bonds created. An epilog answers any lingering questions and may prompt another tear or two. The author's inspiration is revealed in her acknowledgements for deeper appreciation. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Sara Gruen's Like Water for Elephants will embrace this novel, which also includes discussion questions for book groups.[See Prepub Alert, 8/26/16.]-Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Jewish trapeze artist and a Dutch unwed mother bond, after much aerial practice, as the circus comes to Nazi-occupied France.Ingrid grew up in a Jewish circus family in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1934, she marries Erich, a German officer, and settles in Berlin. In 1942, as the war and Holocaust escalate, Erich is forced to divorce Ingrid. She returns to Darmstadt to find that her family has disappeared. A rival German circus clan, led by its patriarch, Herr Neuhoff, takes her in, giving her a stage name, Astrid, and forged Aryan papers. As she rehearses for the circus' coming French tour, she once again experiences the freedom of an accomplished aerialist, even as her age, late 20s, catches up with her. The point of view shifts (and will alternate throughout) to Noa, a Dutch teenager thrown out by her formerly loving father when she gets pregnant by a German soldier. After leaving the German unwed mothers' home where her infant has been taken away, either for the Reich's Lebensborn adoption program or a worse fate, Noa finds work sweeping a train station. When she comes upon a boxcar full of dead or dying infants, she impulsively grabs one who resembles her own child, later naming him Theo. By chance, Noa and Theo are also rescued by Neuhoff, who offers her refuge in the circus, provided she can learn the trapeze. The tour begins with a stop in Thiers, France. Astrid is still leery of her new apprentice, but Noa catches on quickly and soon must replace Astrid in the act due to the risk that a Nazi spectator might recognize her. Noa falls in love with the mayor's son, Luc, who Astrid suspects is a collaborator. Astrid's Russian lover, Peter, a clown, tempts fate with a goose-stepping satire routine, and soon the circus will afford little protection to anybody. The diction seems too contemporary for the period, and the degree of danger the characters are in is more often summarized than demonstrated. An interesting premise imperfectly executed. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
