num_pages: 335
description: Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book.An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, 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. Beautifully written, 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.
language: English
title: Water for Elephants
titlecomplete: Water for Elephants
characters: Kinko/Walter, Camel, Rosemary (Water for Elephants), August (Water for Elephants), Jacob Jankowski, Rosie Noah, Marlena L'Arche, Uncle Al
genres: Audiobook, Book Club, Historical, Historical Fiction, Novels, Adult Fiction, Adult, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 1578460
places: Joliet, Illinois, The United States of America, Ithaca, New York
awards: awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult Fiction, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: ALA Alex Award, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: The Quill Award
category: General Fiction, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: LovelyBooks Leserpreis
category: Allgemeine Literatur
publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill