EVELYN SCALA SCHREIBER

Epic love story and family saga

Fiction

THE PRIVATE GIRL

Rights and awards

Rights
Germany
Norway
Sweden

 

Awards

Evelyn Scala Schreiber is a journalist who has worked for several Swedish newspapers. A prestigious Fulbright scholarship led to a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York City. Now she’s back in Sweden, writing about, among other topics, American politics.

Evelyn Scala Schreiber had long thought that someday she should write down her family’s circus history. Mostly out of curiosity and to share it with the rest of the family. Then the pandemic came, and she found herself in a cabin in northern Sweden one summer with little to do. So, she started doing research for fun. As she began piecing together the story, she realized what she thought was a pleasant way to pass time was something much bigger. It’s not just about a circus family, but about everyone. About the unique world of the circus and the often-forgotten people within it. Circus women who were pioneers in the fight for women’s liberation but who never made it into the history books. Writing the book as a novel has allowed her to fill in certain gaps in the story. But at its core, this is her family history.

A vibrant circus story emerged, spanning almost a century. The Circus Trilogy was born.

The Private Girl is Evelyn Scala Schreiber’s debut novel and the first part of the Circus Trilogy, a series based on the author’s own family history. It is a story about marginalization, freedom and sisterhood, about a woman who decided to sacrifice everything for love – and the circus.

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Quote

“First of all, the book is excellent, especially for a circus enthusiast. This is the most accurate depiction of the circus in Sweden at the end of the 19th century that has been written in our country in many years. What you describe is the circus according to the continental tradition, with circus dynasties functioning much like Europe’s royal houses. These circuses were named Schreiber, Gautier, and Houck. What I particularly appreciate in the book is your precise depiction of the circus’s passion, discipline, pursuit of perfection, tolerance for the unconventional, society’s prejudices, and the need to maintain a distance from the private sphere. At the same time, circuses depended on being seen and heard and were constantly under the authorities’ scrutiny.
In my lectures, I often highlight that women have frequently been in charge of circuses. Now I have another name to add to this list: Bertha Schreiber.”

Jan Näsström, Director of the Swedish Circus Academy

Bibliography the Circus Trilogy

2025 – The Private Girl (Privatflickan), novel

Author photo

Gabriel Liljevall For photo rights please contact the photographer at info@gliljevall.se