Lara has lived her entire life in a small, quiet town in Virginia where she and her mother have never been suspected of performing magic. It was there that she met her fiancé, Todd, who disappears on their wedding day without a trace, in the same way and on the same day as another man 30 years ago. As the months pass and Lara tries to move on with her life, her mother gives her a painting that seems to have much more value than they imagined and which features Lara’s great-grandmother, a circus performer named Cecile. This, along with the promise that there she will get the answers she seeks about Todd’s disappearance, leads Lara on a trip to France.

The story is told in two timelines. We follow Lara trying to find answers in 2005, but we also get a glimpse of Cecile’s life in 1925 through the journals that Lara finds of her. I have to say that I didn’t care much for the flashbacks and I especially got frustrated with Cecile because, despite everything her twin did to her, she kept giving up her happiness for her. And for someone whose favorite book is set in a magical circus, the dark and secret circus in this story was probably the element of the story that interested me the least.

Overall, this was an entertaining read. I didn’t connect with the characters, but I liked how the story presented different mysteries—the disappearances in the town, Lara’s connection to the circus, the mystery of the three paintings—and how the revelations played out. I didn’t see the big plot twist coming until two paragraphs before the characters did, which is always fun when a book surprises me like that, especially since it doesn’t happen that often.

From the synopsis I thought this book would be something I would really enjoy, but sadly it just wasn’t for me, it was too slow

This book was not for me. The plot was very disjointed and the writing was poor. I thought the book would have been fantastical but I was left disappointed

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I enjoyed this novel as it contained interesting and original fantasy elements, reminiscent of The Night Circus.

I was intrigued by this from the blurb but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I found it to be quite slow paced and unfortunately found myself getting bored a lot of the time

This book was a little out of my comfort zone but I really enjoyed it. The magic of the circus is what lured me in to read this however I did feel that not enough of the story was centred within the circus and almost like I had been duped into reading it. Having said that, I did enjoy it and perhaps the joining of the modern day with the fantastical past associated with the circus is what made me enjoy it so much.

Love a good multi pov story steeped in mystery .

This was a nee type of book for me and I really enjoyed the fantastical mixed with the mystery .

I ended up having a bit mixed feelings about ‘The Ladies of the Secret Circus’.

I generally love all the stories related to this book, so I was very excited about this title, and while overall, I have enjoyed this book, there was something missing here for me.

‘The Ladies of the Secret Circus’ has a cloaked-in-mystery atmosphere, as one would expect from the title related to the circus, with magic underneath it, and it was something I like a lot (generally my favourite part of the books related to the circus and magic). I liked how there was a lot of interchange between past and present, and how they both affected each other, and it was interesting to learn more about Lara, and her family’s history this way. However, the story felt a little dry in moments for me, there were places where I didn’t think things were moving forward, or weren’t keeping me as engaged as others.

But overall, it has been an enjoyable read.

This was a really intriguing read and I loved the cover too!! I think the plot was full of twists and it was really interesting!!

The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a book that is very different to the sort of books that I usually read. I came across one of Constance’s other books last year and thought it sounded amazing, so when I got a chance to read this one as an ARC I jumped at the chance. It sounded intriguing and unusual and as I am trying to branch out and read books outside of my comfort zone I thought I would give it a go. I am really glad that I did as I really enjoyed this book.

This book is part modern day fantasy, part historical fantasy. It following two storylines that intertwine, one modern day and one in 1925. I actually really loved this split as it was so intriguing seeing the mysteries that started in the 20s, still affecting this family decades and decades later. I loved the mystery and the magical element of this hidden circus that nobody can see unless they are invited. It was so intriguing and I really couldn’t put this book down.

The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a magical and mystical journey through time and has a definite ‘who dunnit’ element. It really hooked me in and I cannot recommend this book enough. If you’re looking for something a little bit different yet something that will grab you then I highly recommend this book. It was absolutely fantastic.

This took me a week to read, which is not a good thing coming from me.

I found that I couldn’t read more than a couple of chapters at a time as the writing and story feels so convoluted. There were times I felt like I had read a whole book and yet only about 3% had passed. But then, when reading the diary entries, I was engrossed!

Overall, the story is lacking but I adored the premise and wish we could have gone further. More of the circus, more substance to the story. There are a lot of timelines and perspectives but none of them scratched the surface well enough, we only hear the basics of most and they’re not even the most interesting part, sorry Ben.

I felt similar in this way to the authors last work so I’m not surprised but slightly disappointed. I hoped for more. Especially as the circus is my favourite book setting. How can you bring me a circus in HELL and yet not capture my love? Sad about it.

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder - a world where women weave illusions, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family's circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world, but when her fiancé disappears on their wedding day every plan she has for the future comes crashing down. Desperate, Lara's search for answers unexpectedly lead to her great-grandmother's journals.

Swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love, secrets about Lara's family history come to light and reveal a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé's mysterious fate .
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Circuses are always a bit of a liminal space with the potential for both entertainment and danger and I’m always on the lookout for books that capture that dichotomy. Ladies doesn’t quite succeed in this but it was still a reading experience I enjoyed. The book follows both Lara in the present and her ancestor Cecile in the past Lara has always been aware of Cecile’s history with the circus, but when her fiance disappears on their wedding day Cecile’s past begins affecting Lara’s present in unforeseen ways. Like the majority of books that deal with two different time periods, one story is more compelling than the other. The descriptions of the circus in Paris at the time of Ernest Hemmingway and the lost generation, and its sense of macabre and menace are more attention-grabbing than the quieter and more solemn beginning of Lara’s story of dealing with loss and grief. However, this is just the set-up and although the beginning is slow, events are carefully threaded through time and foreshadowed effectively with a satisfying payoff in the end. While the blurb mentions magic, this is both more and less central than might be expected, and people who come expecting the otherworld-ness of the Night Circus might be slightly disappointed. But as a tale in its own right, The Ladies of the Secret Circus delivered and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it

4.5 stars
This book had me hooked for the very first page. Ladies of the Secret Circus is such an magical and atmospheric book that just captivates your attention.⁣
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I loved how the story is told in the alternative timelines with the past being told in journal entries. Sayers has an amazing way of writing that makes it so easy to imagine the circus and the people that work there. ⁣
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Overall just an amazing book that I recommend to everyone. With it's magical setting and a mystery that will have you guessing to the very end, this is a book everyone will enjoy! ⁣

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable read and I will recommend to friends and family but it wasn't particularly exciting sadly.

Perhaps I should have given this book more of a chance as a lot of other reviewers seem to have loved it, but for me it was a DNF at a quarter of the way through. I think the story lost me right at the start when the main character uses her magical powers to enchant her wedding dress on the morning of her big day so that it looks completely different. I'm not averse to magic in a real world setting, but it needs to be handled believably and I just didn't feel that this was. Parts of it I thought showed promise, the parts set in the world of the circus, but I had no excitement to continue reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for approving me for an ARC of this brilliant book. I read A Witch In Time in October and loved it so couldn’t wait to get stuck in. Luckily a few of my friends from my book group also had this one so we did a buddy read.

I immediately got sucked into Lara’s story and desperately wanted to know what had happened to all these men that had disappeared over time. Once she found Celeste diary I couldn’t put the book down! I found Lara’s relationship with Audrey very interesting and loved how it developed throughout the story, the final chapters had me welling up. As a main character I admired Lara’s determination to discover the truth and stare into the face of danger. To say she was brave would be an understatement.

Cecile and Esme’s story was fascinating. I loved the setting and was horrified but also captivated by the circus. Everything was described so beautifully that I could picture the show, the scenery and everything in between. Learning more about Althacazur was a pleasant surprise as well. We briefly met him in the ‘A Witch in Time’ so having him in this book as a main character provided clarity about him. Whilst he was without a doubt very evil, conniving and murderous I also found his sarcasm and wit very funny. I enjoyed reading Cecile’s diary entries and learning about her life in the circus and Esme was another character that I had a lot of sympathy for. Once you learnt her backstory you could see how much she had shouldered for her sister and why she had turned out the way she had.

Constance Sayer has only fed my obsession with circus books and witchcraft further. This was a beautifully written, captivating story that utterly terrified me at times. I am eagerly awaiting her next book and adding her to my auto buy author list.

Short Version: A jam packed story that is never quite what you expect.

Long version:

There is something about the circus and stories from that world that appeal to the dreamer in me and while this is a very different book to what I was expecting, it’s a belter of a story.

The Plot: The plot itself is pretty linear but it works in perfect harmony with the characters. There were a couple of places where the plot went careening down a path I had no idea was there which was both disconcerting and pleasing.

The Setting: All of the settings were brilliant. They were described wonderfully and so immersive that I could practically smell them. They were very much a part of the story.

The Characters: The characters in this are fantastic, in every sense of the word. The people in the real ‘now’ world are very relatable, well written and three dimensional. The people and creatures in the circus world are so perfect and the reasoning behind them being in the circus is *chef’s kiss. Characters in the real ‘old’ world are vibrant and relevant. Overall an excellent cast of characters that really work with the plot.

The Prose: Well written with some nice beats.

The Pace: Generally flows well with occasional sections that feel a little sluggish.

Conclusion: I really enjoyed this, it’s a well put together complete story that doesn’t ask too much of you.

Who would love this: Anyone who loves their stories centred in the real world with elements of fantasy / supernatural.

The opening of this book, where Lara enchants her own wedding dress so it’s more to her liking, showed promise for the rest of the novel. Her marriage to Todd is the next morning, but as she’s waiting for her groom some bad news arrives. His best man is local law enforcement officer Ben and he tells her that Todd can’t be found. His car is found abandoned at a bend in the road where thirty years earlier another young man disappeared without a trace. Pete was in a band with Lara’s father, who has always been affected by the loss of his friend. Surely there’s a connection? Lara’s search for answers leads them to a journal written by her great-grandmother and the tale of a secret circus, where they perform using real magic. In Belle Èpoque Paris we follow the story of Cecile Cabot, Lara’s great grandmother, the subject of one in a series of three paintings by artist Émile Giroux. Cecile’s life is bound to the circus as is her sister Esme’s, but why are they cursed in this way and is it a price that the women in the family are still paying to this day?

From Lara’s wedding day onwards, the first section of the book set in idyllic Kerrigan Falls didn’t quite have the spark of that first scene. I worried that the book might be a bit saccharine sweet for my taste. It was typical small town America, but with barely any crime or unpleasantness. Residents seemed to get along easily and everyone cared about the town’s history, it’s beautiful period buildings and stunning setting. Lara bought the local radio station, her love of music coming from her famous musician father. I didn’t quite believe how lovely the place and it’s people were and I suspected there was a darker underbelly. This was hinted at in the the disappearances of these young men, but also the strange happenings in Lara’s life that started when she was a young girl and saw an unusual looking man and woman in their field who disappeared into thin air. Schooled by mum Audrey to keep her powers under wraps, Lara is sad about how her premonitions affect people. When she hears a vaguely familiar song, lurking underneath a track on one of her dad’s albums, she plays it on her guitar. The refrain is like a nagging tooth ache, but when her father hears it he goes white. It was one of Pete’s songs and they never recorded it.

I found it sad that these powerful women were having to hide their real selves to be accepted, especially when it came to love. Audrey’s marriage to Lara’s dad was blighted by Peter’s disappearance and now Todd was gone too. I really enjoyed Lara’s relationship with Ben, who was Todd’s friend and is just as invested in knowing what happened as Lara is. They’ve grown close trying to solve the mystery, but their relationship is full of unspoken feelings and guilt. When Audrey gifts Lara with a painting of her great-grandmother, to put up in her new home, the framer recognises it as a lost painting of Giroux. They then travel to Paris to meet an expert on the painter and have it’s provenance confirmed. It’s here that the story really took off for me, because the sense of place is wonderful and there’s a real momentum in their search for answers. The circus is the perfect antidote to the sweetness of Kerrigan Falls. I won’t ruin your discovery of this world, but it is truly fascinating, macabre, beautiful, magical and horrifying all at the same time. I was hooked by the scene the author was describing and fascinated by Lara’s family history. The small details, such as the circus only appearing to those with a personal invitation which bled if it was torn, were quite disturbing. The magic practiced there had parallels with Lara’s skills - simple tabby cats turned into ferocious big cats. There were surprises I hadn’t expected and Cecile’s final diaries are the vital first hand account of the circus’s history, as well as her own love story. I was immersed in this magical tale and didn’t really want it to end.