Carter's extraordinary ability to conjure up a world that is both startlingly surreal and disconcertingly familiar is given free rein in this 1984 fable. A sharp young American war correspondent is sent - between wars - to interview Fevvers (say it with a Cockney spin, and you'll get it), an outre trapeze artist with the face of an angel, the body of a prize fighter and - wait for it - wings. Contrary to all expectations, the hack is smitten and joins the circus as a clown for its tour of Russia; from the opening page the reader, too, is drawn into this magical sawdust-strewn space, and we can only watch, spellbound, as enchantment follows enchantment.
