Water for Elephants
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| Author | Sara Gruen |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Charles Mason/Getty Images |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical romance novel |
| Publisher | Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing |
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Publication date
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26 May 2006 (1st edition) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 331 (first edition) |
| ISBN | (first edition) |
| OCLC | 61362217 |
| 813/.6 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3607.R696 W38 2006 |
Water for Elephants is a historical novel by Sara Gruen, written as part of National Novel Writing Month.
The story is told as a series of memories by Jacob Jankowski, a 93-year-old man who lives in a nursing home. Jacob is told what to eat and what to do.
As the memories begin, Jacob is a 23-year-old Polish American preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University veterinary student when he receives the devastating news that his parents have been involved in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his parents have been killed in the car crash and their home has been mortgaged to pay for his tuition and is not to become his, he has a breakdown and leaves his Ivy League school just short of graduation. In the dark of night, he jumps on a train, a circus train belonging to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. On the train he is befriended by Camel, an old man and circus veteran, who persuades his companions not to throw Jacob off the train and takes him under his wing, finding him odd menial jobs. When the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, learns of his training as a vet, he is hired to care for the circus animals. This leads Jacob to share quarters with a dwarf named Walter (who is known as Kinko to the circus) and his dog Queenie. A few weeks later Jacob is summoned to take a look at Camel, who, after drinking "Jake" (adulterated Jamaican ginger extract) for many years, can't move his arms or legs. Fearing Camel will be "red-lighted" (thrown off a moving train as punishment or as severance from the circus to avoid paying wages), Jacob hides him in his room.
The equestrian director, August, is a brutal man who mistreats the animals in his care (such as the new elephant, Rosie) and the people around him, but he can also be charming and generous. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. Marlena subsequently leaves August and stays at a hotel while she is not performing. Uncle Al then informs Jacob that August is a paranoid schizophrenic and utters a threat: reunite August and Marlena as a happily married couple or Walter and Camel get red-lighted.
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