How do you make an elephant disappear? In this episode of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful sits down with Tim Schooley, author of The Circus of the Vanishing Elephant, to explore what happens when a circus illusion becomes real—and when a beloved elephant, a fractured family, and a young clown’s search for belonging are all pulled into the same mystery.

Set in 1974, Schooley’s novel follows the King Minos Circus after Henrietta, its star elephant, vanishes during a parade. Suspicion falls on Randi, the circus owner’s estranged daughter, and Ainge, a young clown haunted by a painful family history. The conversation explores family, chosen family, loyalty, animal freedom, and belonging, while also opening a window onto the practical realities of a traveling circus: its performers, crews, trains, arena ...