Spectaccolo Christine Catlin

A baby, abandoned at the circus. Left to sleep among the lions.

Leona is a beautiful, determined, talented performer. Abandoned at the circus as an infant, she befriends a pack of circus lions who become her family as she becomes Leona, the Lion Tamer.

Her performances gain her the highest recognition and eventually garner the deepest jealousies. Kidnapped by the neighboring circus, Leona and her lions are forced to perform against their will. Unable to escape, Leona is commanded to train an erratic male lion with a history of violence.

Love and loss, discovery and deceit, Spectaccolo is a story about a girl becoming a woman in a place like none other.