Set during the Great Depression, Water for Elephants gives you an insight into how desperate men will do anything to remain in work even if it is with the unscrupulous Uncle Al, the owner of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
This is also a love story, and the love interest is in the form of the talented Marlena whom Jacob, our narrator, is very attracted to. Marlena is married to August the head animal trainer. August is a paranoid schizophrenic and a very unlikable character indeed.
The novel is told by Jacob in the present remembering his life in the past, he is 90 or 93 - he's not too sure - and lives in a nursing home. When a circus comes to town it triggers his memories.
Not generally a fan of love stories, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this novel.
PS Rosie is a legend J
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