The cover and synopsis sell this like it’s a circus book so that kind of set me up for disappointment as I expected this descriptive, atmospheric coming of age experience in a circus in the 20’s and 30’s. Cecily is sold to a circus at seven years old, you see her hanging out in the stables, you see her living in a train car, you get the tiniest glimpse of her training here and there for a horse act, but beyond that, if you’re craving sights and sounds and getting to know more than a couple other characters in the circus, that is not this book.

This book juggles a few different timelines and POV’s, it isn’t confusing, though I did wish the voice had seemed more distinct for each character’s viewpoint and for each age we see Cecily at, her thoughts, her vocabulary, etc., varied little from age seven to teen to senior citizen, she mostly just seemed a naive, sheltered adult no matter her age.

While this story has minimal circus content to offer, there is plenty of domestic drama going on, aging and illness, the affect of miscarriages on a marriage, a recovering alcoholic, racial identity, interracial romance, the ugly truth about homes for supposedly wayward girls, etc., all of which held my interest well enough but were never quite as affecting as I’d hoped, maybe a case of simply too many issues to really have enough pages to dig that deeply into any of them.

Maybe that’s why for me the last seventy or so pages were when I felt most engaged, when more of that baggage was out in the open, being discussed between characters rather than held in, getting into the emotion of things a bit more, it gave the book more of a feeling of forward momentum than it previously had to the point where I wondered if maybe I would have rated this book higher had it been less concerned with gradually revealing Cecily’s hidden life and instead started at the moment where everything is exposed, as the messy aftermath, to me at least, proved more absorbing, the family dynamics then more deserving of exploration really than what came before it, yet it was then that things were somewhat hastily wrapped up.

I received this book through a giveaway. ( )

A young girl is sold to the circus just before the Depression and she becomes a bareback rider. She has losses, good times bad times with some interesting issues. The backwards and forwards timeline can be a bit annoying but the book felt real. ( )

Make no mistake, Baker’s engaging novel takes some effort to truly appreciate. This tale of long-simmering family secrets performs many somersaults from one era to another and weaves together multiple POVs. Readers who prefer more linear storylines might suffer a minor bout of literary whiplash. That being said, a book that skillfully blends life in a circus, young love and DNA explorations into a twist-filled story that’s partially set in the Great Depression ultimately rewards readers. Could I have occasionally used a “cheat sheet” that reminded me who was who in this complex saga? You bet. Were there a few subplots that could have been trimmed? Absolutely. But in the end, this multi-generational story treats readers to unique insights about resiliency, friendship, family bonds and the true meaning of personal identity. ( )

*well-written book with a captivating storyline
*easy to read and kept my interest from cover to cover
*great character development
*highly recommend ( )

The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker is a highly recommended family drama concerning families, adoption, and ancestry. The narrative begins in 1924 and ends with a climatic conclusion in 2015.

At age four Cecily Larson is dropped off at an orphanage by her mother in 1924. Her mother promises to return within a year, but she doesn't which allows the orphanage to put Cecily up for adoption. When she is seven she is sold to a traveling circus to be trained as a trick bareback rider. She is renamed Jacqueline DuMonde and billed as the “little sister” to the star bareback rider Isabelle DuMonde.This life becomes her home and she eventually falls in love with a roustabout named Lucky.

In 2015, ninety-four-year-old Cecily is living in Minnesota by her daughter Liz, granddaughter Molly and great grandson Caden. Cecily is hospitalized after she fell and broke her hip. Cecily realizes that secrets she has been keeping need to be shared soon. Liz is keeping her own secret from everyone, as well as the fact that she and Molly tricked Cecily into taking DNA test in the hospital for Caden's biology project on DNA testing. At the same time in 2015 in Florida and North Carolina another mother, Clarissa, and her adult daughters, Kate and Lana, are wondering about their heritage and take a DNA test.

The novel is presented in three parts. The first part of the novel is very satisfying and compelling as it follows Cecily in the circus, later in 1946, and her family in 2015. Part two introduces Lucky and the other mother and daughters plot. It is this addition to the story where I lost much of my captivation with the The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson. Certainly most readers will sort out all the new characters, but it is the dueling story lines that became unwieldy making the narrative feel muddled in the middle of the novel. Some of the sub-plots could have been left out and the introduction of the second family could have been smoother.

The gem remains the chapters set in Cecily's past and everything that she experienced.

Obviously, readers will know something is going to tie all these people together. It is clear Cecily's hidden secrets will be revealed and readers will anticipate that the DNA tests will tell all. It is this one fact that will help many readers jump the hurdle once the secondary cast is introduced and all the new characters are sorted out. In the end story lines are tied up neatly and quickly. Thanks to Mariner Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/02/the-hidden-life-of-cecily-larson.html ( )