The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Starting with the cover art (the picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice), The Night Circus is a book of beauty.  The circus, the clocks, the attractions in the tents, even the people themselves, are intricate and creative yet there is room for interpretation.  The reader can create her own magical world.

The story is also intricate, sometimes to the point of confusion, but in an intriguing way.  The characters and their histories are revealed in minute increments, like blossoms from a circus garden - little surprises springing open at just the right moment.  Like the writing, the plot somehow blends detail with space for each reader's imagination.  The Night Circus is unlike any other book I've read, and I'm anxious for the next unique world that Ms. Morgenstern creates.