Secrets of the Cirque Medrano

by Elaine Scott

When her mother dies, Brigitte is sent to live in Paris where she helps her aunt and uncle in their cafe. Her new life seems strange and interesting. When Brigitte befriends Paco, the young circus performer from the Cirque Medrano who poses from the temperamental Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, she is drawn into a web of international intrigue.

Genres: Fiction

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scott, Elaine. 2008. Secrets of the Cirque Medrano.

Brigitte Dubrinsky was shaken out of an uneasy nap by the hiss from the steam engine and the protesting screech of the train's wheels on the track.

Brigitte is an orphan on her way to meet her aunt and uncle. Aunt Dominique and Uncle Georges own the Cafe Dominique, and they have generously offered to take her into their home. They write that if things go well, then they might very well leave the cafe to her since they have no children of their own. I should have perhaps mentioned that Secrets of the Cirque Medrano is set in 1904-1905 Paris, France. To be more specific, the text is set in Montmartre.

The novel focuses on two things in particular, three if you want to blend them together. First, our heroine is captivated by the circus, particularly the Cirque Medrano. Second, the novel focuses on art, in particular, Pablo Picasso. Picasso is a regular (though generally not a good reliable paying customer) customer at Cafe Dominique. Brigitte and Henri (a Russian boy they've hired) help out at the restaurant. They seem to take turns being fascinated with the artist and his crowd. Where these two focus-points seem to blend together is their poverty, their lower "class-ness" that makes some look down upon them. Henri is especially vocal. He believes in revolution, in anarchy, in socialism--he's always quoting Marx. Brigitte tries to understand everyone and everything...from the circus performers she befriends, to Henri, to her aunt and uncle, etc. Quite observant and full of hope, she makes for an interesting narrator.

Elaine Scott was inspired to write Secrets of the Cirque Medrano by Picasso's painting Family of Saltimbanques, 1905

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel to 1904/1905 Paris with 14-year-old Brigitte Dubrinsky who is sent to live with her aunt and uncle in the lively Montmartre area of the city after death of her mother in Warsaw. The couple runs a café that is often frequented by bohemian artists and writers, including a young Pablo Picasso and his friends. The lonely French-Polish orphan finds herself in a strange new world. She works hard in the café, but finds delight in the observing the café’s patrons and watching the acrobats, jugglers, and other performers of the nearby Cirque Medrano. She becomes friends with Paco—one of the circus performers and model for Picasso’s famous Family of Saltimbanques that the artist is working on throughout the story. Because of her co-worker Henri—a young Russian expatriate bent of recruiting Picasso to join the coming Russian revolution—Paco and Brigitte find themselves involved in international intrigue as they try to elude the dangerous Russian secret police who are out to get Henri, his compatriots, and even Picasso. Picasso’s Family of Saltimbanques currently hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Learn more about it at www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/20cent.... (Recommended for grades 5-8)

[Jennie Vosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful historical fiction book. Very strong sense of time and place (Paris, 1904). After her mother dies, Brigitte moves from Poland to Paris to help her aunt and uncle run their quaint cafe. There she meets all sorts of interesting people, from a boy who performs in a traveling circus to the young artist Pablo Picasso.