CIRCUS HOME: A NOVEL OF LIFE, LOVE AND NEW JERSEY by Jason Ollander-Krane

UNITED STATES, January 26, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- “I find I have to be the sad clown: laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.” Just as Tony Soprano’s therapist peels back his facade in this famous scene, so does Jason Ollander-Krane in his debut novel, Circus Home: A Novel of Life, Love and New Jersey. In this poignant work, recently nominated for a 2023 eLit Book Award, readers will be sent back in time to witness the true-life stories of those who spent their lives putting on an act.

All Brendan Hardy knew was carnival barking; however, after a long career on the midway luring people into the spectacles of the sideshow tents, his daughter convinces him to move into an assisted-living facility. Naturally, Brendan chooses to live out his final years with his own people — in the New Jersey Home for Retired Circus and Carnival Performers. One day, he puts a sign over the coffee maker in the clubroom asking to chronicle the life stories of the various residents.

From 1880s Brooklyn to Havana and WWI Washington D.C., Brendan is whisked from locale to locale as he meets the fascinating residents of the home. Peeling back fact from fiction, Brendan documents the laugh-out-loud funny, magically fantastic and at times heartbreaking lives of people who have spent their lives crafting illusions so real their truths were almost forgotten.

Ollander-Krane not only crafts an engrossing and unpredictable read through his masterful blend of real historical events with brilliantly devised characters, but also guides readers through with the narration style of a born storyteller. Through main character Brendan Hardy, the author’s prose charms readers into paying rapt attention, almost as if they are right there in the room.

The author’s strong attention to detail and expansive knowledge of history adds a layer of depth and realism to the stories that will have readers questioning their own truths. “The characters are well-defined, and the storyline is beyond creative. But here’s what will keep you reading until all hours of the morning,” says one Amazon reviewer. “Some are fiction, some are fact. But which is which? You’ll be running to Google every few pages to try to figure it out. Grab some popcorn, get your ticket, and settle in for a great story.”

Circus Home: A Novel of Life, Love and New Jersey is an imaginative world unlike any other. Combining humor, fantastical drama and heart-wrenching tragedy, Ollander-Krane paints a perfect picture of the human experience that will appeal to readers of both fiction and non-fiction.

“A must read!! If you are looking to settle down with a marvelous novel that will absorb you into a fantastical time and place in American history, you will love Circus Home.” —Amazon reviewer

“The writing is brilliant and gets every detail right with understated, arch wit sometimes bordering on the deliciously snarky.” —Amazon reviewer

“Amazing. Each story was so detailed and so intricately crafted that I was taken into the world and life of each character -- and so drawn in that I was often a little sorry when we had to move onto the next. This book was like nothing I’ve read before -- and I’m a voracious reader. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” —Amazon reviewer

Circus Home is available on Amazon and other popular retail outlets where books are sold.

AUTHOR
Jason Ollander-Krane grew up in a home filled with performers. His father was a composer and a conductor, and his mother was a costume designer. He was starstruck at the age of five when he met John Raitt after a performance of Carousel. By eight he was performing The Music Man in his grandparents’ living room. At the age of ten, he got his first professional theater job building sets at the Tent House Theater in Highland Park, IL. He studied English Literature at Rutgers College, worked as an actor in New York City and is a published poet. He avidly attends theater, cabaret and music performances all over the world. He lives with his husband in California. Visit Jason at www.JOKstoryteller.com.

Jason Ollander-Krane
Jason Ollander-Krane, Author
+1 415-917-3373
jaseokpd@gmail.com
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