Water for elephants
a novel
by Sara Gruen, David LeDoux, and John Randolph Jones
- 144 Want to read
- 7 Currently reading
- 67 Have read
A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob 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.--From publisher description.
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Subjects
Fiction, circus performers, depression era, historical, elephants, romance, nyt:combined-print-and-e-book-fiction=2011-02-13, New York Times bestseller, Circus, Depressions, Fiction, romance, historical, Fiction, historical, general, Novela histórica, Circo, Cuentos de amor, Ficción, Crisis económicas, Artistas, Social conditions, Training, nyt:e-book_fiction=2011-03-12, Orphans, History, Fiction, historical, Literature, Great Depression, 1929-1939, Historical fiction, Love stories, New York Times reviewed, collectionID:EanesChallenge, collectionID:bannedbooks, Parents, Death, Circus animals, Trainagles (Interpersonal relations), Triangles (Interpersonal relations)People
Marlena, Jacob Jankowski, August, RosiePlaces
United StatesShowing 11 featured editions. View all 36 editions?
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Agua para elefantes/ Water for Elephants
October 30, 2007, Alfaguara
Paperback
in Spanish
- Tra edition
1603960066 9781603960069
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Water for Elephants (Chinese Language)
2007, Ten Points Publishing Co., Ltd., Ten Points Publishing Co., Ltd
Paperback
9867759516 9789867759511
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Water for elephants: a novel
2007, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Algonquin Books
in English
- 1st pbk. ed.
1565125606 9781565125605
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Water for Elephants: A Novel
April 9, 2007, Algonquin Books
Paperback
in English
1565125606 9781565125605
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Water for elephants: a novel
2006, Algonquin Books
Hardcover
in English
- 1st ed.
1565124995 9781565124998
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Work Description
As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers 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. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
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- Created April 1, 2008
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| November 17, 2025 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| February 17, 2025 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| March 8, 2023 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| December 29, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from Scriblio MARC record |