The Circus
By Samuel Kaye
If you can imagine a story by Kafka about a circus on a circuit of small towns between northern NSW and southern Queensland, it will give you some idea of what this book is like.
Kerryn Goldsworthy, Sydney Morning Herald, 2015
Samuel Kaye’s novella The Circus tells the story of a young man who, in unusual circumstances, takes over a travelling circus.
The performers are an eclectic group of highly-trained trapeze artists, magicians, and dancers. One of the two strongmen is a former German Olympic gymnast who came within a whisker of winning the gold medal at the Athens games; the other a heavyweight boxer left broken after endless defeats in the ring.
As the troupe makes its way around country New South Wales, the performers form alliances and eliminate rivals, threatening to derail everything while at the same time working hard to maintain the highest professional standards.
About the author
Samuel Kaye was born in Adelaide and grew up in Melbourne, London and Sydney. He now lives in Newtown. Kaye’s first novella, The Circus, was published in 2014 by Inken Publisch. His short stories Jindabyne Holiday and The Turkish-German Girl have appeared in Sneaky Magazine. Other works include the novels Half Lands and Cinema which is out now through Whiskey Tit Publishing – whiskeytit.com.