Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Basic story: Jacob Jankowski, a vet student in the 1930s is suddenly orphaned and runs away to join the circus. While traveling, he falls in love with both the star performer, who happens to be married to the psycopathic animal manager, and an elephant who speaks only Polish. The narrator recounts the story as a 90 year-old man (or is it 93?) looking back on his life and facing the rest of his days with the monotony of nursing home life.
I loved both the romance unfolding between Jacob and Marlena, as well as the love between Jacob and his animals. Some have criticized that Jacob seemed a little bit too in love with everything and everyone (a champion of the underdog) to be an interesting character. But I really enjoyed Gruen's novel, and loved the photographs from great circuses of the era. When I was a little girl one of our yearly class field trips was to the P.T. Barnum museum in Bridgeport, CT (his summer house was about two blocks from mine and was owned by Nancy Marshand of The Sopranos fame). Reading this book took me back to class field trips, sticky cracker jack, wooden nickels, and the creepy Egyptian mummies in the basement.
--originally published 8/15/06
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