Books like Spangle

Spangle is not a book of epic heroes, it is not a book of glory, nor a overall very happy one, instead however, I found it to be a book that is very realistic time period, a book that was well crafted with care and love(unlike half the stuff these days). The entire book feels like one grand and epic adventure from the Confederate South, to all around Europe. It follows a circus which rises from humble beginnings to performing in Paris and having the favour of Tsar Alexander and Louis Napoleon.It is a book of different races and many brillant people who seem very real. Unlike some books where everyone manages to stay alive or are all beautifully perfect, this book is not. Many of the main characters die throughout the book in very normal ways, Edge’s beloved is taken by disease, Maggie dies from the turnover of a carriage, Florian dies from stroke. This realism is incredibly satisfying and very different to magical healing(every fantasy book ever that has a magic system) and the length and sheer scope of the journey makes us feel that we are with the characters for the entire tale which spans over six years.This book, staying realistic to the time may however cause offence to readers who isn’t white and words which are deemed explicit and rude are used to both describe but also used in speech. Beware of that. Another note, this book contains lots of underage sex(with references of rapes of girls as young as five), and lots of rape in general, so if that’s not something you can stand, don’t read this book. This is not a perfect book and being 1278 pages, it is a massive tale which huge amounts of story that is set in a moderate pace, with the ending feeling a bit draggy with the Siege of Paris(1870-1871) taking up a huge chunk of the book. 9/10