Refreshing...Water For Elephants

What a refreshing novel! In Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen takes the reader on a train ride through the life of circus entertainers of the 1920's. The story of a young veterinarian who runs away and joins the circus in an effort to avoid the reality of a terrible car accident that takes the lives of his parents.  After finding out that his parents have mortgaged everything that they own to put him through vet school at Cornell, he has an emotional breakdown and can't face his new reality.

Here's a quick summary courtesy of Teenink:

The story is told in a series of memories from Jacob Jankowski as a 93-year-old man in a nursing home. Twenty-three-year-old Jacob learns about his parents’ death in his final semester at Cornell where he is receiving a degree in Veterinary studies. He learns that his parents were deep in debt trying to pay for his Ivy League education. This was not unusual during the time period, The Great Depression in the United States. He breaks down and boards a slow moving train in the middle of the night. He learns later that the train belonged to the traveling “Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show on Earth”. He earns a job tending animals. 

Jacob develops a precarious relationship with the head trainer, August and his wife, Marlena. Jacob falls in love with Marlena. August, a paranoid schizophrenic, becomes suspicious of their relationship and beats them both. Marlena refuses to be near August and stays in a hotel while not performing. This bothers Uncle Al, the owner of the circus and he summons Jacob to his quarters. There he threatens Jacob with the task of reuniting August and Marlena or having his two best friends and roommates “redlighted”*. (thrown to their death from the moving train during the night).

The story combines memorable characters, with a love interest, suspense, and one or two really exciting  "dust ups".  There is a great balance of adventure, action and solid character development.

I always know that I am onto a good book when I find myself waking up early, before the kids get up so that I can enjoy a quiet hour of reading before the busy day starts.  I highly recommend this one!