'Hugh is nine years old and things are not going very well for him. His mother died when he was just six, and his father has not made a success of his orchard, and is broke.
'Then a miracle happens! A circus comes to stay over at Hugh’s farm, and he makes friends with lots of the performers and animals, and with Nita, the Ringmaster’s daughter. Then his father disappears and he joins the circus.
'And so the adventures begin!
'This is utterly charming story is set in New South Wales during the late nineteenth century.' (Publication summary)