![]() “In this thrilling, romantic story set in a traveling circus in the 1930s, Sara Gruen has a Big Top’s worth of vivid characters and an exhilarating narrative that kept me up all night. ![]() "Lovely and mesmerizing.genuine talent."- Kirkus ReviewsĪ "page-turner.Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes and freaks who populate her book."- Publishers Weekly “Old-fashioned and endearing, this is an enjoyable, fast-paced story.”- Library Journal 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…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…just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convinces you to suspend your disbelief.”- Booklist He’s about to graduate from veterinary school and about to bed the girl of his dreams. “You'll get lost in the tatty glamour of Gruen's meticulously researched world, from spangled equestrian pageantry and the sleazy side show to an ill-fated night at a Chicago speak-easy.”- Washington Post I couldn't bear to be torn away from it for a single minute.”- Chicago Tribune “One of the many pleasures of this novel is the opportunity to enter a bizarrely coded and private world with its own laws, superstitions and vocabulary. “A rich surprise, a delightful gem springing from a fascinating footnote to history that absolutely deserved to be mined.”- Denver Post ![]() a fascinating setting and a richly anecdotal story that's enjoyable right up to the final, inevitable revelation.”- The Onion ![]() “ sprightly tale has a ringmaster's crowd-pleasing pace.”- Entertainment Weekly An emotional tale that will please history buffs-and others.”- People “Novelist Gruen unearths a lost world with her rich and surprising portrayal of life in a traveling circus in the '30s. gritty, sensual, and charged with dark secrets involving love, murder, and a majestic, mute heroine (Rosie the Elephant).”- Parade With a showman's expert timing, saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of Americana into an enchanting escapist fairy tale."- New York Times Book Review Black-and-white photographs of real American circus scenes from the first half of the century are interspersed throughout the novel, and they brilliantly evoke the dignified power contained in the quieter moments of this unusual brotherhood. At its finest, Water for Elephants resembles stealth hits like 'The Giant's House,' by Elizabeth McCracken, or 'The Lovely Bones,' by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. The bond that grew among this group of misfits was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great hope for this third-rate traveling show. There he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but brutal animal trainer. It was the Great Depression and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. 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. Over 10,000,000 copies in print worldwideĪ Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz
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