A wondrous circus that appears only at night is the arena for a magical duel between two young illusionists bound since childhood — who fall in love.
Books mentioned in The Night Circus (4)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare: Epigraph opening Part V: "Our revels now are ended... We are such stuff / As dreams are made on; and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep." —PROSPERO, THE TEMPEST, ACT IV, SCENE 1
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: “Celia quotes it directly and names it: "'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' Celia quotes at him... I am haunted by the ghost of my father, I think that should allow me to quote Hamlet”
As You Like It by William Shakespeare: “Celia hurls a physical volume of it at her father's ghost: "she picks up a volume from the pile of Shakespeare and hurls it at him. As You Like It passes through his chest without pause..."”
The Critic as Artist by Oscar Wilde: Epigraph opening Part I: "A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." —OSCAR WILDE, 1888