HOBBS NATIVE C.W. SMITH rolls out the inaugural novel in the University of New Mexico Press’s Lynn and Lynda Miller Southwest Fiction series, Girl Flees Circus, which rockets readers into a 1920s southeastern New Mexico on the brink of an oil boom. Katie Burke, a spunky teen, crash-lands a plane in the dried-up town of No Name. She’s stolen the craft to escape betrayal and a real-life circus of stunt pilots and wing walkers. Her predicament quickly captivates the locals. Smith breathes life into each person who meets Katie and shines an intriguing historical light on the region. Hope, compassion, and resolute spirits shine throughout.

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