Caesar Cascabel by Jules Verne

Jules Verne's CAESAR CASCABEL follows the adventures of a family of French circus perfomers who have spent several years touring North America in the 1860s.  As they prepare to return home, their savings are stolen, leaving them with few options for returning to France.  Instead of working to book passage, they decide instead to travel overland via Alaska and Siberia to Europe. 

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French author who, along with British writer H. G. Wells, is considered to be one of the founders of the science fiction genre.  Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater  travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. He is the second most translated author of all time, only behind Agatha Christie.  A number of his books have been made in films several times.