A Son of the Circus

A Son of the Circus
First Edition Cover
Author(s)	John Irving
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	August 1994
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	640 p. (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-679-43496-8 (hardback edition)
OCLC Number	29566583
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Classification	PS3559.R8 S64 1994
Preceded by	A Prayer for Owen Meany
Followed by	A Widow for One Year

A Son of the Circus (1994) is John Irving's eighth published novel. The novel was a return to his first publisher, Random House, under whose imprint Irving's first three novels appeared.

In terms of its setting and cast of characters, the novel seems a significant departure for Irving. Though the setting is Mumbai, India and though the book describes the "Blue Nile" circus in detail, the novel has many other storylines. A key narrative thread is the growing human understanding in the main character, Farrokh Daruwalla.

The novel includes a crime-story that links the other plotlines: A series of murders take place in Mumbai and nearby places. When this affects an upper-class club and Daruwalla's stepson is threatened, the killings are investigated by a sympathetic criminal inspector who long ago married a girl who had witnessed one of the murders.

Another story line concerns twin brothers who do not know each other at first. One is a famous movie actor starring in the Inspector Dhar series, which are scripted by none other than Dr. Daruwalla. The other is a Jesuit who causes all sorts of confusion when he arrives and gets on everyone's nerves. The twins meet when the Jesuit apprentice leaves his religious ambitions behind.

References

An interview where Irving tells about how he considers the characters of his novels, including "A Son of the Circus", to be a product not of imagination but of keen observations.