The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
Contents
Bookkeeping: LONDON, MARCH 1900
Overview
Chandresh, drunk and creatively stalled, breaks into Marco’s office and uncovers a hidden ledger-like book containing every circus participant’s signature paired with locks of hair—including Chandresh’s own. When Chandresh confronts Marco, Marco uses magic to erase evidence from the room and effectively wipe Chandresh’s memory of the encounter. Marco then hastily removes his records and possessions, while Chandresh later speaks with Prospero’s ghost, leaving his suspicions newly anchored rather than forgotten.
Summary
In March 1900 in London, Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre sits drunk and restless in his study, unable to create anything new since launching Le Cirque des Rêves years earlier. The circus obsesses him, and his insomnia turns into suspicion that something about it has been hidden from him.
He wanders into Marco’s office and searches through cabinets and files, finding blueprints and sketches for the circus layered with unfamiliar handwriting and strange notations. On the desk he discovers ledgers and datebooks, then fixates on a single locked drawer. Impatient, Chandresh returns for a silver knife and forces the lock open.
Inside the drawer is a heavy, leather-bound volume covered in dense symbols. As Chandresh flips through it, he realizes the pages hold clipped signatures—names he recognizes, including the Murray twins—and that each name is paired with a lock of hair. Near the end he finds his own signature and a lock of raven hair, which unsettles him as he instinctively touches his own hair.
Marco appears in the doorway and confronts Chandresh for going through his things. Chandresh demands answers and accuses Marco of doing something to the circus and to everyone involved; Marco responds that Chandresh never had control, never wanted details, and has always been kept ignorant. As the argument escalates, the scattered papers and the incriminating book abruptly vanish from the desk, and even the brandy bottle disappears from Chandresh’s hand.
Marco calmly asserts that he cannot leave and that Chandresh will forget the confrontation; Chandresh’s confusion sets in immediately, and he apologizes, unable to recall what they were discussing. After Chandresh drifts back to drinking, Marco hurriedly packs all documents—including the leather-bound book—into suitcases, clears out his rooms, locks the office, and leaves Chandresh fresh brandy. Alone, Chandresh mutters, “He has no shadow,” and later in the night he holds a long conversation with the ghost of Prospero the Enchanter, which solidifies the troubling thoughts alcohol might otherwise wash away.
Who Appears
- Chandresh Christophe LefèvreCircus founder; drunkenly searches Marco’s office, discovers the signature-and-hair book, then has his memory altered.
- MarcoChandresh’s administrator; confronts Chandresh, makes documents vanish, manipulates Chandresh’s recollection, and packs away his records.
- Prospero the EnchanterAppears as a ghost late at night, confirming and strengthening Chandresh’s lingering suspicions.
- Poppet MurrayOne of the twins; her signature appears in Marco’s hidden book as proof of circus involvement.
- Widget (Widge) MurrayOne of the twins; his signature appears in Marco’s hidden book alongside Poppet’s.
- Mr. BarrisReferenced architect/designer; his stamped blueprints are found altered with additional, unfamiliar annotations.