Publication Date: September 23rd, 2025
Hardcover. 288 pages.
It’s 1915 and the world is transforming, but for thirteen-year-old Bolt and Eleanor—twins so close they can literally read each other’s minds—life is falling apart. When their mother dies, they are forced to leave home under the care of a vicious con man who claims to be their long-lost uncle Charlie, the only kin they have left. During a late-night poker game, when one of his rages ends in murder, they decide to flee.
Salvation arrives in the form of Mr. Jengling, founder of the Emporium of Wonders and father to its many members. He adopts Bolt and Eleanor, who travel by train across the vast, sometimes brutal American frontier with their new family, watching as the exhibitions spark amazement wherever they go. There’s Minnie, the three-legged lady, and Dr. Chui, who stands over seven feet tall; Thistle Britches, the clown with no nose, and Rosalie, who can foretell the death of anyone she meets.
After a lifetime of having only each other, Eleanor and Bolt are finally part of something bigger. But as Bolt falls in deeper with their new clan, he finds Eleanor pulling further away from him. And when Uncle Charlie picks up their trail, the twins find themselves facing a peril as strange as it is terrifying, one which will forever alter the trajectory of their lives. An ode to the misfits and the marginalized, One of Us is a riotous and singularly creepy celebration of the strange and the spectacular and of family in its many forms."
I had such a wonderful with this new book from Dan Chaon. I was immediately captivated by this story: Chaon's writing, the characters, the world, just about everything grabbed me from page one. I enjoyed Chaon's Sleepwalk quite a bit, but One of Us was something quite a bit different. It was very dark in different ways, definitely unsettling, and always lent itself to an atmosphere that prevented me from every feeling fully comfortable--there's an air of unease and sadness that I think worked well with this book and I really enjoyed.
As you may or may not know, I'm a huge sucker for circus and carnival settings, so this book was on my TBR pretty much the moment I saw it, and I was thrilled when I received an ARC. Chaon's depiction of an early-1900s traveling show is vivid, grimy, and haunting in all the right ways. He really leans into the liminality of the circus world and all of its inhabitants and performers. There's a precise blend of community, exploitation, performance, secrecy, and taboo that I think he absolutely nailed. It felt gorgeously eerie. There's a strangeness that seeped from this world and this book's pages, and I really liked seeing how the twins adapted into this community.
Eleanor and Bolt are fascinating protagonists and the story largely shifts between their POVs. They are telepathic twins whose sibling bond has undergone many hardships and turns. Their dynamic with one another was tense and occasionally difficult to parse. I particularly liked seeing how they each navigated the world in different ways, and I really liked getting to know the twins and thought Chaon did an excellent job of diving into their world and experiences.
Bolt has an eagerness to belong and be a part of a community that might accept him, whereas Eleanor is much more of a loner and seems to feel much more discomfort and introspection within her own troubles. I found it much harder to connect with Eleanor in some ways, but I think that is by design, as she is a bit prickly and sad, but I think that quiet heaviness she carries is incredibly affecting and really emphasizes the many struggles she's carried with her and how much responsibility she has had throughout her life, so naturally she has a harder exterior. I found it fascinating to see how Eleanor's shell thickened, whereas Bolt is someone who was still more open to new things--Eleanor was more shutdown and distrustful. Although they have a psychic connection, I felt that it didn't play as much of a plot point in this, but rather acted as a more tangible representation of their own emotional closeness and sibling relationship, as it dimmed as they grew apart at times. I was actually a bit surprised by how much the twin narrative didn't play a huge role--namely, that because each seemed to consistently choose a different path, it made them feel much more separate, and I appreciated this pathway that Chaon took with the story.
One of Us also includes occasional chapters from other members of the circus' POV, as well as Eleanor and Bolt's villainous uncle who is attempting to track them down. I found the chapters about the circus members surprisingly intriguing and really deepened the depiction of the circus and its inhabitants, the struggle they'd endured, and just how real this world and environment felt.
The pacing was a little uneven at times, but not so much so that I struggled to get through the book. As I mentioned, the beginning hooked me immediately, but then there were a few moments in the middle that would dip and drag a bit, but then pick back up and, repeat. This really fit the somewhat heavier mood of the book, however. The ending, however, was quite a ride and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It was immensely haunting and left me feeling somewhat miserable in some ways, but I think it's meant to, and I'm not sure Chaon could've picked a more sadly fitting ending. Without spoiling anything, it's very dark, a bit unexpected in some ways (and yet not?) and it carries a deep emotional sadness that left me feeling a bit hollow in an intentional way. It's one of those endings that doesn't try to comfort you or tell you things work out--it sits with you instead, and it's a bit disturbing. Chaon truly committed to this end and it feels true to the story, even if it's not what some readers will want.
I will say that there were some passages where Chaon lays out some historical context/groundwork for world events happening at the time the different parts of the story were set, and while they were interesting on their own and I generally like historical context, I found them overall feeling a bit forced. It felt almost more like a way to remind you that this book was based in real time and the author did his research, rather than really contributing meaningfully to the narrative. They felt a bit like digressions from a history buff (which, as a history fan, I don't necessarily mind... but they didn't quite work for the story.).
One of Us is a strange, atmospheric and deeply memorable novel. It's not perfect and there were moments that didn't quite work, but overall the combination of eerie circus setting, the character work, and creeping sense of dread made this a haunting and emotionally heavy read. If you enjoy books with a historical setting, character-driven storytelling, and circus settings, then this is absolutely worth picking up. It's the type of story that stays with you, even if it is in a quiet, sad, lingering sense of unease type of way.
