Home of the American Circus

Name: Home of the American Circus
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Allison Larkin
ISBN: 9781797194745

Author: Allison Larkin

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Unabridged: 13 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 05/06/2025

Categories: Fiction, Women, Family Life

Synopsis

The acclaimed author of the “lyrical coming-of-age novel” (Good Morning America) The People We Keep returns with a luminous new story of redemption, breaking generational curses, and the power of family in its truest form.

After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as bartender in Maine and returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames—as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home. As they reconnect, Freya and Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house and come to terms with the devastating events that pulled them apart years ago.

Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, and the complicated journey of finding home.

About Allison Larkin

Allison Larkin is the internationally bestselling author of the novels The People We Keep, Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, and Swimming for Sunlight. Her short fiction has been published in the Summerset Review and Slice, and nonfiction in Author in Progress, a how-to guide from Writer’s Digest Books, and the dog anthology I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Jeremy, and their rescue dog, Roxy.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on April 13, 2025

It's practically a crime to give this book anything less than five stars—it deserves at least ten! Allison Larkin once again proves herself a master of crafting deeply nuanced characters and slow-burning, small-town fiction that resonates on an emotional level. With Home of the American Circus, she......more

Goodreads review by Jayme on May 06, 2025

I loved “The People We Keep” so, I thought I had a 5 star read lined up, but, this one didn’t quite deliver for me… Somers, New York-the birthplace of the American Circus, is the setting for this tale. It’s the place where the first circus elephant, Bet, is memorialized, though there are many version......more

Goodreads review by emilybookedup on May 09, 2025

this book was so good! i liked it more than her debut THE PEOPLE WE KEEP and highly recommend the audiobook—Julia Whelan narrates and brought this little town and all its characters to life so well! 🎧 read if you like: small town settings, family drama, coming of age, character driven novels i kept th......more

Goodreads review by Maren’s Reads on May 17, 2025

I think this may be my top read of 2025. Full review to come. NOTES WHILE READING: 100% Big tears <3 88% Shaking my head at myself for how emotionally connected I get to characters and their relationships. 78% When the characters you want so badly to be together don’t seem as though they will be. 40%......more

Goodreads review by Bryn on April 22, 2025

My blurb for this book: Home of the American Circus is a tender and heartbreaking exploration of what it's like to come crawling back to a home you once fled. Amid her keen observations on life in small towns, Larkin shows us the crushing despair of failure and the fearlessness it brings. You will co......more