A Son of the Circus: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

A novel featuring a Hindi film star, an American missionary, twins separated at birth, a diminutive chauffeur, and a serial killer whose stories intersect. Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla, a 59-year-old surgeon, was raised in Bombay by unconventional parents, educated in Vienna, married to an Austrian woman, and has lived in Toronto. He lacks a clear national, cultural, or religious identity. The novel depicts Irving's imagined India through Daruwalla's periodic visits—a chaotic world of servants, clubmen, dwarf clowns, transvestite sex workers, missionaries, and movie stars. It explores the collision of modern media with ancient cultures and the breakdown of traditional sexual boundaries. The narrative unfolds with multiple interconnected storylines told at a rapid pace, populated with vivid and convincing characters and settings. This edition includes an excerpt from John Irving's In One Person.