Erin Morgenstern
Set within an enchanted circus at the turn of the nineteenth century, Erin Morgenstern's much-heralded debut novel, The Night Circus (Doubleday, $26.95), is an instant international sensation, with film and foreign rights already sold. Within the black-and-white striped tents of the circus, a fierce competition is under way between two young magicians. They don't know it, but this is a game in which only one can be left standing.