SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Since it was first published in 2006, Water for Elephants has become a phenomenon. With over 5 million copies in print, versions in virtually every language and the hit major movie, this book club favourite has carved its own place in publishing history. It’s a rich and deeply satisfying piece of story telling with a wonderful sense of time and place which is winning new fans every day.
Water for Elephants is the Depression-era tale of Jacob Jankowski, a young vet student recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, who jumps onto a passing train and enters a wonder of freaks, grifters and misfits. The Benzini Brothers most spectacular show on earth is a second rate travelling circus struggling to survive, making one night stands in town after endless town.
Jacob is put in charge of the circus menagerie and it’s there he meets Marlena the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, August her dominating husband and circus trainer and Rosie – the circus elephant only Jacob can reach.
Daisy Waugh, Tatler _The most magical, haunting novel I’ve read in the past few years.
The IndependentGruen brilliantly conjures up the whole brouhaha of herding punters into the temporary magic of the big top, and the harsh economic reality of sustaining the show. Both exotic and erotic, Water for Elephants is filled with colour and passion but is also charged with an elegiac sense of loss for an entire way of life.
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The movie starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz is now out on DVD. Watch the Water for Elephants trailer below.
Watch the international trailer below.
Sara Gruen lives in Western North Carolina with her family, four cats, two dogs, two horses and a goat. Her latest novel is Ape House. She is currently at work on her new novel.
Links:
- Sara Gruen
- Water for Elephants movie fan site
- Watch the Borders Book Club discuss Water for Elephants with Sara Gruen
- Sara Gruen’s favourite books
- Pictures of the Circus: The Circus 1870-1950 (Taschen) YouTube Trailer – brilliant images of a lost world
- The Ringling Circus Museum
- A talk with Sara Gruen on The Book Smugglers blogsite
I have just finished reading Water for Elephants and was completely hooked on this amazing book, so much so that I ordered everything else she has written from Amazon. It is such a joy to find such a talented writer, the story is page turning, you can’t wait to find out what happens next – the adventures Jacob has with the circus, the fabulous Rosie who only understands Polish, the heart wrenching treatment of the elephant and circus employees made me cry – and yet Jacob as an old man lives to tell the tale ! I would love to find other writers as talented as this and hopefully this newly discovered web-site will help me do so.
Kay Malarkey
Thank you Kay, that’s good to hear. I hope you find lots here to interest you…look forward to hearing what you think of Ape House
Lisa
I have now read Ape House Lisa and once again was really touched by this book. I love her as a writer she keeps you enthralled all the way through, I have also read her other books and now am quite disappointed I have read everything she has written !
That’s lovely to hear Kay, thanks for being in touch. Sara is writing another book now – it’s a way off, but sure to be good
Lisa
[...] WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Sara Gruen [...]
Is the book Water for Elephants also published in the Polish language? I’d like to order it for a young friend from Poland, so she can read it and get the depth that is not included in the film. Enjoyed the book quite a lot, and seeing the movie added beautiful visuals to an already appreciated story, and the changes to the film worked well. The two complement each other, even though they are two somewhat different versions of the story.
Yes, it’s definitely available in Polish. The book has been sold in over 40 territories – sure you should be able to track it down.