This is a fictional story of a circus train and its cast of many and varied characters.  I just loved it for the history of the circus train and how it all worked, from setting up the tents to feeding hundreds of people three times a day to paying the bills to creating the acts.  I was fascinated by the “class” system between the performers and the workers.  Despite knowing a bit about Barnum and Bailey and modern circus acts, I learned so much about the circus.  Gruen did a huge amount of research for this novel.  (fiction)