Water for Elephants - Tapa dura

'Gorgeous, brilliant and superbly plotted, I am unabashedly in love with this book' -- Joshilyn Jackson, author of GODS IN ALABAMA 'This masterpiece of storytelling is a book about what animals can teach people about love.' -- Susan Cheever 'Lovely and mesmerising.' -- Kirkus 'You are so immersed in circus life that you are completely blinded by the thrilling, fatal dazzle of sequins and sawdust.' -- Daily Telegraph 'There is a tender story of first love, of murder, mayhem and animal and human brutality, of hucksters, whores and the general hoopla created when the circus rolls into town! This book is every bit the fabulous escapist entertainment that the big top once was.' -- Sunday Express

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits -- the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth -- a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. Jacob, a veterinary student who almost earned his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.