A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there...

"I︠A︡kobu I︠A︡nkovskomu ne vezet -- nishchiĭ, poteri︠a︡vshiĭ roditeleĭ, bez raboty, on vynuzhden skitatʹsi︠a︡ po Amerike perioda Velikoĭ depressii, poka odnazhdy ne popadaet v poezd, prinadlezhashchiĭ t︠s︡irku bratʹev Benzini, "samomu velikolepnomu na zemle". Zdesʹ-to on i nakhodit svoe mesto pod solnt︠s︡em -- ustraivaetsi︠a︡ rabotatʹ veterinarom. Tak t︠s︡irk na kolesakh stanovitsi︠a︡ dli︠a︡ nego, s...