Have you ever reached out for a book in a shop, intuitively knowing that it is going to be wonderful? This happened to me two weeks ago, when I was at my favourite bookshop. From a heap of books, I pulled out a slim looking book with glossy pages called The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard by Eddie Campbell, co-written by Dan Best. This special book is no fairy tale and it is up to you to decide if the ending is a happy one. Perhaps you will smile, perhaps you will cry, but the feeling that this story leaves you with is one that will not go away in a hurry. I know that I will read this book over and over again and not tire of it.
This is the story of Etienne and a circus troupe, set mostly in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. Etienne’s uncle, an acrobat in a circus, dies and all Etienne inherits is a blank book and a fake moustache. With this strange inheritance Etienne has to carry on his uncle’s circus just the way it has always been, without letting the public know that his famous and much loved uncle, Monsieur Leotard is dead. Monsieur Leotard’s troupe consists of his dwarf friend Zany, Lenore the tattooed woman, Ernst the strongman, Captain Jack the lion-tamer and many more people. Their story is not one of success, love and happiness. It’s a story of struggle, failure and darkness. A story of a man who never gave up, who always smiled and gave strength to the troupe he suddenly found himself a part of and, as the reader finds, was truly a superhero.
The story is told through beautiful watercolours, each page becoming a work of art. I cannot decide which I liked more: the narrative style or the art.
I wonder if any of you can spot the many historical and popular fictional references that are made throughout the book. There are many and very well integrated into the story. It is not easy to seamlessly weave major historical events into a story and I think Eddie Campbell and Dan Best do this very well. As the narrative moves from one period in the lives of the circus to another, you breathlessly anticipate what might happen.
This is what author said about his novel on his blog: ‘Leotard is a sprawling epic that gobbles up a large swathe of history from the Franco-Prussian war to the sinking of the Titanic’.
I recommend this book for older readers, class 9 onwards. You might find some of the events sad, violent and disturbing. However, one thing is for sure, you will find that you love the story of the man who ‘flies through the air with the greatest of ease — the daring young man on the flying trapeze!’
(Yasmine Claire teaches high school students and attempts to write twisted-inside-out fairy tales. Write in to claireyasmine@gmail.com)
