The Weight of Air ~ Review

The Weight of Air

By Kimberly Duffy

Mabel MacGinnis has become the daughter her father trained her to be  - Europe's strongest woman. But when he died, her confidence died with him. On her own, she is lost and not enough. Worse, she's lost her place in the Manzo Brothers Circus unless she can reinvent herself. But her friend Jake Cummingham sees more to her than an act in her father's performance and goes with her when the secrets of the past come to light. The mother, she thought, long dead, has been living and performing in America.

Isabella Moreau has a life in America, one that her husband held her back from, questioning her strength and endurance. But claiming her it has cost her the life she could have had. But her skills as an aerialist are faltering as her body begins betraying her. Is the life she has fought for so hard about to be lost to her? 

What neither Mabel nor Isabella realizes is just how entwined their lives are. With Jake an unknown link between them soon, they will become part of one another lives. But as the three work out just who they are and what they want from life, they will have to put the past and its fears and pain behind them.

First of all, I have to say circuses are not really something I've ever been into, so this was a fairly new world for me. I found the back story of the circus to be an interesting one. The rivalry to be the top performer. Older performers were hidden in the crowd of performers, their faces behind veils to mask their age from the public. And then there was Mabel, who was expected to put her body on display because of her size and strength; her wishes for privacy and modesty were ignored. Yet there were codes of conduct the performers were expected to follow, which seemed at odds with the marketing employed. 

I feel that Mabel's father and Isabella's husband did both a disservice with his "protective" nature. Isabella wasn't allowed to move past her issues and felt rejected. While Mabel felt she couldn't work without her father at her side. And then there is Jake, who allowed tragedy to define him. It warped his view of his current situation and caused him to hurt those around him. I feel many of the problems that were faced could have been avoided if each could have listened and not just heard the words being spoken to them. 

This is a story of healing and moving on. But most importantly, learning in whom one should put their trust - God. I think the following verse was one that needed to be heeded, "I can do all things through God, who strengthens me."  Overall this was an excellent book and one I think would make a perfect choice for those who are into early Twentieth Century historical fiction or circuses. 

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Two women

--bound by blood, torn apart by circumstance--

find together that true strength comes in many forms.

In 1911, Mabel MacGinnis is Europe's strongest woman and has performed beside her father in the Manzo Brothers Circus her entire life. When he dies unexpectedly, she loses everything she's ever known and sets off in the company of acrobat Jake Cunningham in hope of finding the mother she thought was dead.

Isabella Moreau, America's most feted aerialist, has given everything to the circus. But age and injury now threaten her security, and Isabella, stalked by old fears, makes a choice that risks everything. Then her daughter Mabel appears alongside the man who never wanted to see Isabella again, and she is forced to face the truth of where, and in what, she derives her worth.

As Mabel and Isabella's lives become entangled beneath the glittering lights and flying trapeze of Madison Square Garden, their resiliency and resolve are tested as they learn the truth of what it means to be strong.