A Girl Made of Air
a mesmerising, magical read to escape with this summer
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
'A captivating tale of love and loss and finding connection in the most unexpected places' Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas
A lyrical and atmospheric homage to the strange and extraordinary, perfect for fans of Angela Carter and Erin Morgenstern.
This is the story of The Greatest Funambulist Who Ever Lived...
Born into a post-war circus family, our nameless star was unwanted and forgotten, abandoned in the shadows of the big top. Until the bright light of Serendipity Wilson threw her into focus.
Now an adult, haunted by an incident in which a child was lost from the circus, our narrator, a tightrope artiste, weaves together her spellbinding tales of circus legends, earthy magic and folklore, all in the hope of finding the child... But will her story be enough to bring the pair together again?
Beautiful and intoxicating, A Girl Made of Air brings the circus to life in all of its grime and glory; Marina, Manu, Serendipity Wilson, Fausto, Big Gen and Mouse will live long in the hearts of readers. As will this story of loss and reconciliation, of storytelling and truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hetherington weaves a story of trauma and neglect into the mystical world of a traveling circus in her lovely debut. The narrator, who calls herself Mouse, was born to two circus performers who wanted little to do with her. Mouse's upbringing was largely left to the rest of the circus community, who treated her "more like a pet than a beloved child." Then one particularly bright star took a special interest in Mouse, the orange-haired Serendipity Wilson, who taught her to read and to walk a tightrope—leading Mouse down a path to become "the greatest funambulist who ever lived." Now Serendipity's own child has gone missing. In an attempt to piece together what happened to the lost child, Mouse recounts her traumatic and complicated past while also revealing the history of the circus and its performers. The story unfolds through a series of interviews, letters, and diary entries, all maintaining a light, lyrical tone reminiscent of Erin Moregenstern's The Night Circus. Hetherington pulls in readers with a riveting mystery and a candid narrator who never shies from the darkness in her tale. The result is a dreamlike delight.
