The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers (the little red hen ebook TXT) 📕

As always, my sister, Lois Sayers, is my first and most critical voice. I trust her instincts more than my own, and her influence was especially appreciated with this book when I often felt lost. My friendship and gratitude always to Amin Ahmad for his insight and honesty. He’s a developmental editing genius.

I’m also so grateful to the support from Dan Joseph, Laverne Murach, Tim Hartman, Hilery Sirpis, Allie DeNicuolo, Anna Pettyjohn, Doug Chilcott, Karin Tanabe, Alma Katsu, Sarah Guan, and Steve Witherspoon. Much thanks to the Spark Point Studio team of Crystal Patriarche, Hanna Pollock Lindsley, and Taylor Brightwell.

If you write any type of historical novel, I think you do so partly because you enjoy immersing yourself in the research. The “lost generation” of Paris in the 1920s is a particularly rich historical period, and there are a number of source materials that helped shape this book, including: The Circus Book, 1870s–1950s by Linda Granfield, Dominique Jando, and Fred Dahlinger; A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway; When Paris Sizzled: The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends by Mary McAuliffe; The Golden Moments of Paris: A Guide to the Paris of the 1920s by John Baxter; The Found Meals of the Lost Generation: Recipes and Anecdotes from 1920s Paris by Suzanne Rodriguez-Hunter; Man Ray’s Montparnasse by Herbert R. Lottman; Do Paris Like Hemingway by Lena Strand; Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties by Noel Riley Fitch; Man Ray: American Artist by Neil Baldwin; Self Portrait by Man Ray; Kiki’s Paris: Artists and Lovers 1900–1930 by Billy Kluver and Julie Martin; and Kiki de Montparnasse by Catel Muller and Jose-Luis Bocquet. This book also owes so much to the HBO show Carnivàle (2003–2005) and the films Trapeze (1956) and The Last Romantic Lover (1978).

And finally, I want to thank Mark for believing in me, even when I often don’t believe in myself. You’ve made me a better person, but sadly, not a better French speaker. (Le distributeur de billets est cassè!)

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The Ladies of the Secret Circus