For a little over a year now, I keep seeing Water for Elephants, and have thought about reading it. Well, I finally did and I loved it!
To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to expect, I kind of had an idea it was about the circus but wasn’t sure what aspect of the circus it was about. The more I read in this book the more I enjoyed it.
Sara Gruen wrote this book in the style of a memoir even though it is a fiction. Gruen stumbled up on the idea of writing about a traveling circus while researching a different novel idea.
This story follows Jacob Jankowski in the 20’s and 30’s, who after the loss of his parents and now where to go hopes on a train to escape, not realizing the train was carrying a traveling circus.
At first Jacob’s presence is met with much opposition until it is learned that he is a vet, well. . .almost. They decide to keep him on to care for all of the animals.
Throughout the novel, the reader is actually presented with Jacob’s story through his flashbacks from his nursing home. We meet Jacob when he is in his 90s.
Despite not knowing much about traveling circuses I still found this story fascinating and highly recommend it. So go out and get it!
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