Circus Girl

Book excerpt: It is 1971 and seventeen-year-old Sarah Cunningham is consumed by wanderlust. When her passion for capturing interesting subjects through her camera lens leads Sarah to a grassy lot one day, she becomes immediately mesmerized by the fascinating circus life that surrounds her. Eager to fit in and in need of a passport into a world beyond her reach, Sarah escapes her scripted suburban life, makes the circus her family, and loses her virginity to West, a handsome performer with a gift for handling wild animals. While under the spell of circus mystique, Sarah falls in love with West and the nomadic way of life as she mingles with jailbirds and performers alike. As the tour nears its end, the gritty underbelly of the circus is revealed. Just before the show reaches winter quarters in Florida, Sarah makes two unwanted discoveries that place her prematurely into adulthood and lead her to face major life choices. In this coming-of-age story, a restless teenager embarks on a journey of self-discovery during the 1970s after she runs away with the circus and discovers that life under a tent is as unpredictable as she is.