Skip to main content
Thumbnail for Water for elephants

Water for elephants

Gruen, Sara200802UU
Books, Manuscripts
The gritty, compelling New York Times bestselling novel of star-crossed lovers and circus life, set in Depression-era USA. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits -- the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth -- a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. Jacob, a veterinary student who almost earned his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. Water for Elephants" is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.Review: 'I loved Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. Great story, loads of fun; hard to put down. So what if the heroine weighs 2500 pounds?' -- Stephen King 'Rich and outlandish... you are so immersed in circus life that you are blinded by the thrilling, fatal dazzle of sequins and sawdust.' -- The Telegraph 'An imaginative modern fairy story, teeming with eccentric characters' -- The Times 'Gorgeous, brilliant and superbly plotted, I am unabashedly in love with this book' -- Joshilyn Jackson, author of GODS IN ALABAMA 'This masterpiece of storytelling is a book about what animals can teach people about love.' -- Susan Cheever 'Lovely and mesmerising.' -- Kirkus 'A tender story of first love, of murder, mayhem and animal and human brutality, of hucksters, whores and the general hoopla created when the circus rolls into town... This book is every bit the fabulous escapist entertainment that the big top once was.' -- Sunday Express 'Great!' -- Giffords Circus.
Main title:
Water for elephants / Sara Gruen.
Author:
Gruen, Sara, author
Imprint:
Hodder Paperback, 2008.
Collation:
448 pages.
Notes:
Paperback.Originally published: London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006.
Biography/History:
Sara lives in America with her husband, three children, two dogs, two cats, three goats, and a horse. She already has her eye on another horse and a donkey.
ISBN:
9780340962725 (pbk)0340962720 (pbk)
Dewey class:
AFGGF
Local class:
FFT PBKAFPBK
Language:
English
BRN:
151894
View my active saved list
0 items in my active saved list