Water For Elephants [Paperback]

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)
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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
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'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 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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.

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.