Well, it was a quick read, kinda fun, but really people…Jacob Jankowski is Bella Swan in trousers. He’s not a very likable guy at all. He runs from trouble (away to the circus, how fun!) where he has to tell lies to stay. It takes the combined efforts of nearly the entire working staff of the circus to keep him from harm, self-directed or otherwise. He has an affair with married woman, and then has the temerity to dread finding out the subsequent child might not in fact be his. When the going gets tough again, he runs away again (to the circus, at 93, how fun!) where he has to tell lies to stay. The only reason I give this book 3 stars is that I appreciate the tremendous amount of historical research that Gruen obviously conducted before writing it, as well as the fact that it is fairly well-written.