Water for Elephants: A Novel

For some reason i wasn't all that excited to start Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen after reading the reviews about it, because the subject matter didn't sound all that appealing: an old-man protagonist who used to be in the circus back in the depression days (thinking on that i'm not sure why that didn't appeal~i mean back in the day i was fascinated by the Discovery documentary P.T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman and carried the companion ...read more

Jacob Janowski’s luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was the Great Depression and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. There he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, ...read more

This book was my pick for book club. It tells the story of Jacob after his parents are unfortunately killed in a car accident. Jacob is left penniless and homeless because his parents loaned from the bank to be able to send him to vet school. He is then left unable to afford his own tuition, so drops out just before completing his studies. He leaves town and boards, what he thinks to be a frieght train, only to discover its The Benzini Brothers ...read more

This was a wonderfully crafted tale of love and honor today and during the Depression. The relationships among strangers during the Depression were fascinating. All the financial problems seemed to encourage meanness in some and inspiring devotion in others. The resiliency of humans never ceases to amaze me.

I think this book had a magnet in it or something because it was physically impossible to put down.