The Circus and the Atom
Published on 31. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-7387886-1-3 (ISBN)
Description
New Year 1988/1989: A theatre student, a taxi driver, a partisan, and a crook join a detective's family in Kiev for an ill-fated reunion. They and the Soviet nation face a violent reckoning as old secrets and fugitive hopes emerge.
Winner of the 2026 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction and for World Literature
Winner of the Best of Novel prize in the 2025 Sunspot Literary Journal Solar Flare Contest
Sequel to The Girl in the Water, winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction
"riveting ... a high-stakes, character-driven drama infused with a palpable sense of political noir" -Printed Word Reviews
"another testament to [Howse's] writing prowess" -BlueInk Review
More details
Person
Joseph Howse writes fiction and poetry, as well as technical books on computer programming and image analysis. He lives in a Nova Scotian fishing village, where he chats with his cats and nurtures an orchard of hardy fruit trees. His debut novel, The Girl in the Water, has won the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction and 2023 IAN Awards for Outstanding Multicultural Fiction. The sequel, The Circus and the Atom, has won the 2026 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction and for World Literature.