Water for Elephants

I loved this book! Loved, loved, loved it!

When someone asks me, "What is the book about?" I find it very hard to describe and it always comes out as a jumble of information like, "well, it's about a circus in the 1930's and there is this old guy, but he was young when he was with the circus, and there is an equestrian star named Marlena that he loves, oh, and an elephant, and they traveled by train and it was just really good." I will do my best not to do that here.

It is told by a 90ish year old man who is in a nursing home remembering his time as a young man traveling with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It is a revealing look at circus life in the 1930's. It is a whole other world with its own set of rules and a strange hierarchy that existed among but separate from regular society.

It is so much more than that though! The narrator is a veterinarian for the circus but he works for a ruthless, abusive man for whom animals, and people for that matter, are a source of income and little more. And then there is Rosie, the elephant, I think I cared for her more than any other character in the novel.

This novel is passionate and interesting. I truly couldn't put it down. I did not realize that the book was written by a woman until about halfway through. I love it when I can't tell if the author is man, woman, young or old. I am always happy and a little awed when an author can pull off a truly believable character. The main character, who is a teenage girl, in "Gloria" by Keith Maillard is a good example, if I didn't know it was written by a man I would have sworn it was written by a woman. The same goes for the main character in "Whistling in the Dark" by Lesley Kagen, I never once doubted that I was hearing the voice of a ten year old, yet obviously the author was older.

I won't give it away the ending but a twist near the end makes this book worth the read and it ends nicely too. If you have read it too, tell us what you think. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it!