Conversation Pieces

Vol. 100 — The Circus, the Garden (and Mario Lanza)

by Holly Wade Matter

$12 $10.00 (paperback)
$5.96 (e-book)	EPUB	MOBI (unavailable)

Read a sample from the book.

Mollie McBride, whose passions are gardening and Mario Lanza, would rather do anything than attend the Delta Zeta Spring Formal—especially after one of her sorority sisters threatens to spread damaging gossip about her. When her elephant-trainer uncle comes to town, she defies her cold, status-conscious mother, snubs the Delta Zetas, and goes to the circus. Over the course of “The Loveliest Night of the Year,” she learns that terrible secrets lurk in her family's past. Returning home, she faces her mother and confronts the stakes for her future.

Advance Praise

“Holly Wade Matter is one of the finest writers I've ever read. In The Circus, the Garden (and Mario Lanza), she returns to the world of Damned Pretty Things, and I couldn't be happier.”
 —Cynthia Ward, author of The Boodthirsty Agent series and co-author of Writing the Other: A Practical Approach

Reviews

This is a fun one…but a story that feels a little awkward and a little comfortable until it sneaks its feminism in on us exactly when we're not looking for it and we realise it's inherently powerful…. There are a bunch of moments to call out—the elephants dancing, the first moment in the garden, Mollie's response to an unexpected request from Barbara in her sorority—but this isn't really about moments. It's about those moments adding up to a change. That makes this a highly appropriate choice for its important billing. What is feminism, whatever genre it's placed into, if it isn't a strong argument for change?  (Read the whole review)
  —The Nameless Zine, Hal CF Astell, June, 2026

ISBN: 978-1-61976-288-6 (13 digit)
Publication Date: Jun 2026
paperback 88 pages