Product Description

From the acclaimed author of Riding Lessons and Flying Changes comes the beautifully written story of a dangerous romance. Jacob Jankowski, a young man suddenly adrift at the height of the Depression, enters the world of a second-rate circus struggling to survive through one-night stands in town after town. Working in the circus menagerie, Jacob meets Marlena, the beautiful star of the equestrian act, and her husband, August, a charismatic but cruel animal trainer. He also comes to know Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable - until Jacob finds a way to reach her.

Water for Elephants is a dark and beautiful tale of life,not just among the colourful characters of the circus, but also during the lean years of the Great Depression. Sara Gruen writes with humour and humanity, warmth and whimsy, depicting a world where even love was a luxury few could afford.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #143 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-29
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With its spotlight on elephants, Gruen's romantic page-turner hinges on the human-animal bonds that drove her debut and its sequel (Riding Lessons and Flying Changes)—but without the mass appeal that horses hold. The novel, told in flashback by nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski, recounts the wild and wonderful period he spent with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus he joined during the Great Depression. When 23-year-old Jankowski learns that his parents have been killed in a car crash, leaving him penniless, he drops out of Cornell veterinary school and parlays his expertise with animals into a job with the circus, where he cares for a menagerie of exotic creatures[...] He also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. Despite her often clichéd prose and the predictability of the story's ending, Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes and freaks who populate her book. (May 26)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Life is good for Jacob Jankowski. He's about to graduate from veterinary school and about to bed the girl of his dreams. Then his parents are killed in a car crash, leaving him in the middle of the Great Depression with no home, no family, and no career. Almost by accident, Jacob joins the circus. There he falls in love with the beautiful performer Marlena, who is married to the circus' psychotic animal trainer. He also meets the other love of his life, Rosie the elephant. This lushly romantic novel travels back in forth in time between Jacob's present day in a nursing home and his adventures in the surprisingly harsh world of 1930s circuses. The ending of both stories is a little too cheerful to be believed, but just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convince you to suspend your disbelief. The book is partially based on real circus stories and illustrated with historical circus photographs. Marta Segal
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Sara Gruen was born in Vancouver, lived in London, Ontario, and went to university in Ottawa. She now lives with her husband and three children in a conservation community outside of Chicago. Her fiction debut, Riding Lessons, was an international bestseller. Water for Elephants is her third novel.

Customer Reviews

It's not about the elephant
If you're looking for a story of glamour and sophistication, this is not it. This is a true tale of circus life and folk--the nitty-gritty reality of hard work and heartbreak. The story opens with an elderly man, Jacob Jankowski, remembering his work in the circus, set off by the fact that someone is putting up circus tents just down the road from the nursing home he's in. This at once reminded me of the novels "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Bark of the Dogwood" both of which deal with someone remembering his past and then telling us about it. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is a remarkable book in that you can literally smell, see, and hear the animals. The opening chapter is so intense and brilliant that it will pull you in and you'll be stuck, as I was, reading for hours. WARNING: If you don't have a lot of time, don't start this book as you will have to finish it. Unlike so many other novels, this one pulls you in and never lets you go. If you liked the novels "Remains of the Day" and "Bark of the Dogwood" then you'll warm to this tale.

Pick this book
I am a pretty finicky reader and was engrossed and unable to part with this novel until I had turned the last page. Every friend I have passed it on to has loved it. Thank you Sara...so refreshing.

Wonderfully Captivating
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I am not a book enthusiast, however this one has grabbed me from the first page and I have had a hard time putting it down. What a dramatic story that is so wonderfully written.
If you are wondering if you should get this book or not, do it! You will not be disappointed!!!