• Fevvers. The central character, given name Sophie and, possibly, part swan. Fevvers is a cockney Venus, 6’2”, with laddered stockings, a voice like “clanging dustbin lids” and the most famous trapeze artist of her day. She was supposedly hatched from a giant egg left on the door of a brothel. Do we believe her? We’d like to.
• The language. Angela Carter is a mesmerising writer. The circus and its employees allow her to flit between styles and to play with magic, glamour and celebrity.
• The sadness of the clowns. We have always suspected a dark side to the circus fools. The passages detailing the clowns’ dismal accommodation in Russia and the madness of their leader Buffo The Great are rhythmically beautiful.
• It’s funny, gleefully wicked, intelligent, surprising and arresting. But it does have one moral: all the fame in the world won’t help you if you’re stranded in the Siberian wilderness.
