Travels with a Mexican Circus

by Katie Hickman

Katie Hickman went to Mexico looking for magic. She found it in the circus - Big Top, clowns, elephants and all - where cheap, torn materials and tarnished sequins are transformed into nights of glittering illusion. Gradually adjusting to the harsh ways of the circus's nomadic lifestyle she soon became absorbed into this hypnotic new world, at first as a foreigner, but later as 'La Gringa Estrella', a performer in her own right.
Hickman's unforgettable account of her epic year-long journey through an extraordinary and bizarrely beautiful country has all the power and richness of a novel.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Autobiography, Memoir

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Katie Hickman was born into a diplomatic family in 1960 and has spent more than twenty-five years living abroad in Europe, the Far East and Latin America. She is featured in the Oxford University Press guide to women travellers, Wayward Women.

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a travel book that has stayed with me years after I read it for the first time. Katie Hickman and her husband spent a couple of years traveling through Mexico with a small family circus. Along the way, she fell in love; not with a person, but with the circus as a whole, even though it was obviously a rag-tag affair. The strutting, macho boys on the flying trapeze, the tough yet delicate girls doing acrobatics; Hickman brings them all to vivid life. The depth of feeling she brings to her subject is even more remarkable given that her earlier travel writing is rather breezy and unemotional. Highly recommended.

[John Dolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were two things about this book that troubled me: (1) the author professes that the purpose of her journey with the circus was to learn about the 'real' Mexico, but there's not that much about about the country itself in this travelogue [maybe she changed her mind?]; and (2) there were passages I found rather condescending towards her good-natured hosts. However, there are some very entertaining sections about the circus, its history, its characters and their day-to-day sometimes desperate lives. Strangely unmoving, however.
But maybe that's just me.
Take a dip inside and see what you think.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really spoke to my heart. I identify so much with the circus people. They are disillusioned from society at large but they are safe and understood and at home within their bubble of a community. They live in the present. What a magical experience it would have been to get to know them. A wonderful book by Katie Hickman.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had long wanted to read about a circus but this is not the book for me. I did not finish it. Nothing wrong with the book but the author is much more fascinated by travel and Mexico and herself than with the circus.

[Liz Broekhuyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wholly absorbing piece of escapism, however it annoys me a little when she speculates on the motivations of the people she speaks to rather than taking the time to ask these questions directly to them.

[Scarlett O.H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Katie Hickmans writing and this book has a great premise but I did not love this one as much as her other books.

[Tanya Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travels with a Mexican Circus was originally titled A Trip to the Light Fantastic. Katie Hickman traveled with the Bell’s circus from 1989 to 1990, and published her book originally in 1993. In 2014 the book was published again with the new name.

Hickman is an English author, who learnt Spanish and decided to join a circus for her book. In the book we can learn about the everyday life of circus artists in Mexico, where, according to the book itself, is where there are (or were when she wrote it) the major number of circuses in the world. The book is interesting because besides showing how the life of circus artists is, it shows the Mexican culture from the eyes of a foreigner.

The stories of the performers are peculiar and interesting on their own right, if you are Mexican you probably know of someone with a dramatic story like those, but if not, you may think life is too hard in Mexico.

Besides her life in the circus, Hickman tells the reader of other experiences she had in the country, as visiting La Selva Lacandona, the monarch butterfly sanctuary in Michoacán, and Catemaco, the city of witches in Veracruz.

The book is well written, descriptive enough to let the reader imagine everything and to make you feel part of the circus, by the end of the book, despite there are several persons she met, I actually found myself fond of them and curious about what happened to them after Hickman left. Bell’s circus is a still running Mexican circus.

If you are interested in circuses, like me, or if you are looking for an interesting nonfiction memoir full of travel and the strong presence of Mexico, you should definitely read this book, I highly recommend it.

[The Final Chapter · Rating 3 out of 5]

High 3. This was a wonderfully engrossing read as the writer uncovers the personal dramas and faded glamour of the life of performers in a travelling circus in Mexico. By touring with this nomadic and colourful group of trapeze artists, clowns, and animal tamers, she is also able to provide a window into the underbelly of modern Mexican culture, before emerging, astride an elephant, under the glittering lights of the Big Top as ‘La Gringa Estrella’ in her own right.

[Felisa Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative and entertaining, A Trip to the Light Fantastic delves into the lives of a troupe of Mexican circus performers. Hickman, who is British, expertly conjures Mexico in all of its conflicted glory. I was glad I was in Mexico when I read it because otherwise I'm sure it would have made me homesick. Highly recommended.

[Margery Walshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is non-fiction, I've always thought it would make a fantastic chick-lit movie if it were just re-imagined slightly. Doesn't everyone think about running away with a circus at least once in their life? Here, Katie Hickman tells about her travels with a Mexican circus. The photos that she includes are priceless.

[Lucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book. It gives a real insight to what life is like in a circus and I found it very relateable. Also provided interesting descriptions of places in Mexico and fuelled my desire to travel there one day.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads threw away my review for this book, but it was really excellent. Very compelling, and a rare non-voyeuristic look at a deprived community living amid violence and poverty.

[Cazlam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book - it took me ages to read but it was actually really good. It made me want to visit Mexico...which is something I never thought I'd want to do!

[Thomas Minot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written travel book with an eclectic cast of characters, and it paints a vivid picture of Mexico.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

magical, easy read. lots about Mexican life as well as the circus