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A Novel
by Sara Gruen
Book Reviewed by:Water for Elephants absorbs the reader into the glamorous, colorful but uncertain world of a traveling circus during the
Great Depression, complete with human freak show, exotic animal acts and the like.
The story is told by Jacob Jankowski who, from the confines of his nursing home,
drifts in and out of his memories as he recollects the extraordinary events of
his early months with the circus.
Independent booksellers were all abuzz over Water for Elephants when it came out in hardcover last year, and in early 2007 voted it the No.1 Book Sense title of 2006. BookBrowse's readers also came down firmly in favor of Water for Elephants, voting it the No.1 Most Popular book in our Annual Awards - the first time that a 1st novel has won the award.
One reviewer, who didn't appreciate Water for Elephants, wrote
the story off as melodramatic - to which one has to respond, how could a book about the
circus not be melodramatic when melodrama virtually defines the circus!
All in all, this is a highly enjoyable, well-researched, somewhat romantic read
that brings to life the era of the traveling circus and small town America in a
time far harder for most than the current day.
Reviewed May 2006
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in July 2006, and has been updated for the
May 2007 edition.
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If you liked Water for Elephants, try these:
by Tessa Fontaine
Published 2019
Tessa Fontaine's astonishing memoir of pushing past fear, The Electric Woman, follows the author on a life-affirming journey of loss and self-discovery - through her time on the road with the last traveling American sideshow and her relationship with an adventurous, spirited mother.
by Jeffrey Lent
Published 2017
The sweeping, intergenerational story of a Vermont family, from WWII to the dawning of the '60s - the most magisterial and moving novel of acclaimed author Jeffrey Lent's career.
Pony Confidential
by Christina Lynch
In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.
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