Vladivostok Circus

Winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature Tonight is the opening night. There are birds perched everywhere,on the power linesthe guy ropesthe strings of light that festoon the tent . . . when I think of all those little bodies suspended between earth and skyit makes me smile to remind myself that for some of themtheir first flight begins with a fall. Nathalie arrives at the circus in VladivostokRussiafresh out of fashion school in Geneva. She is there to design the costumes for a trio of artists who are due to perform one of the most dangerous acts of all: the Russian Bar. As winter approachesthe season at Vladivostok is winding downleaving the windy port city empty as the performers rush off to catch trainsboats and buses home; all except the Russian bar trio and their manager. They are scheduled to perform at a festival in Ulan Udejust before Christmas. What ensues is an intimate and beguiling account of four people learning to work with and trust one another. This is a book about the delicate balance that must be achieved when flirting with death in such spectacular fashionset against the backdrop of a cloudy ocean and immersing the reader into Dusapin’s trademark dreamlike prose. Translated from the French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins