The Great Kanchana Circus

It is the early 1940s. India is struggling to break free of British rule, and the Second World War is at its peak. The famed Great Kanchana International Circus is touring Burma when Japanese fighter planes bomb Rangoon and Mandalay, razing the British administrative and military installations to the ground and killing the local population in hundreds of thousands.

As their foot soldiers approach to take occupation, Kanchana Sarang Shine, proprietor of the circus company, risks her life and limb to ensure a safe passage back to India for her three-hundred-strong troupe, walking thousands of kilometers through treacherous mountains and jungles. 

Sweeping in scope and breathtakingly vivid in its portrayal of war and the world of circuses, this historical novel is based on true events at a time when over forty circus companies were being run by women in western and southern India. Patil weaves together themes of survival, loyalty and the indomitable human spirit, turning this into both a gripping adventure and a deeply emotional tale of endurance in the face of war and disease.