Water for Elephants

Jacob Jankowski is asked to step out of class. With only a few weeks until his final exams at Cornell University, after which he will graduate with the class of 1931 and join his father’s veterinary practice, he is nervously wondering what he might have done wrong, even fearing expulsion. However, the true reason he is standing before Dean Wilkins is far worse. Both of his parents were killed in a car accident.

After burying his parents, Jacob finds out the bank has taken ownership of his parent’s home. He returns to Cornell for his exams, but does not complete them. Instead, with no place to go and not a penny to his name, Jacob runs away.

Unwittingly altering his life forever, Jacob, hungry and with feet covered in blisters, jumps aboard a passing train, having no idea that it is, in fact, the train of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a circus. Once he meets Uncle Al, the boss, Jacob becomes the circus’ veterinarian, caring for all of the animals, including lions, tigers, giraffes, and the horses belonging to the beautiful Marlena, a star performer. Immediately enamored, Jacob soon finds out he must be very careful- Marlena is the wife of August, the equestrian director with a violent reputation.

Only a few months later, Jacob stands shocked and terrified in the menagerie tent, his eyes desperately seeking out Marlena, but equally fearful they might land upon August, disgruntled and dangerous. All the animals are loose- tigers chasing people, zebras and giraffes stampeding in fear.

Culminating in the terrifying fall of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and told from the perspective of a ninety-three year old Jacob, living in a nursing home after
his wife precedes him in passing and none of his five children offer to have him move in with their families, this novel written by Sara Gruen is a remarkable
must-read.

Reviewed by Kayla Britt