Paul Theroux 
Millroy the Magician 

Fourteen-year-old Jilly Farina walks into the tent at the County Fair and finds her life transformed. Fixing her with his hypnotic gaze, Millroy the Magician performs astonishing miracles. When she is later magicked into his trailer and Millroy promises to train her as his assistant, Jilly feels safe for the first time in her short life.
But Millroy is more than a mere stage show magician. A vegetarian and health fanatic, a possessor of healing and hypnotic powers, Millroy”s mission is to change the eating habits of an entire nation. And through Jilly he has found the strength to preach his evangelical message.
With Millroy”s messianic fervour ever growing, Jilly begins to have doubts – but Millroy knows that without Jilly there will be no magic . . .