Shawn L. Bird

I just finished reading Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants which is my book club’s September read.  It’s hard to say what I loved most about this book.  Sara Gruen is a masterful storyteller, and she does a brilliant job of flashing between the present in a nursing home and the 3.5 months in depression era Benzini Brothers Circus.  Her narrator is protagonist “90 or 93” year old Jacob.  It is a testament to Gruen’s skill that he rings entirely true.  She has thoroughly captured the frustration of strong mind being caught inside a feeble body as Jacob remembers the joys and horrors of  life on a circus train.

I remember loving circus books as a kid, and plainly that hasn’t changed.  When I reached the last 50 pages, I couldn’t see how on earth it’d be possible to wrap all the conflicts in so little time, but she does.  I loved the ending as well.  I didn’t see it coming and it made me happy.

Great book.  Highly recommended.