The Circus In Winter

From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus makes the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima an elephant can change the course of a man's life-or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show's manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners.

In her astonishing debut, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives, bringing the greatest show on earth to the page.

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PRAISE FOR THE CIRCUS IN WINTER

"Day's collection of linked short stories is as graceful as any acrobat's high-wire act." -SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"This is one circus act that doesn't rely on dependable gimmicks to keep the audience amused."

-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"[Cathy Day's] elegantly juggled debut collection of interconnected stories . . . conjures a bigger picture of family-and of America . . . [A] bright tent of storytelling."-ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY