The elephant keeper
By: Christopher Nicholson
Publisher: Charnwood
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Leicester
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781847829610
Subjects: History; Zoo keepers; Elephants; Social conditions; Human-animal relationships; Fiction
Description: In the middle of the 18th century, a ship docks at Bristol with an extraordinary cargo: two young elephants. Bought by a wealthy landowner, they are taken to his estate in the English countryside. A stable boy, Tom Page, is given the task of caring for them. The Elephant Keeper is Tom's account of his life with the elephants. As the years pass, and as they journey across England, his relationship with the female elephant deepens in a startling manner. Along the way they meet incredulity, distrust and tragedy, and it is only their understanding of each other that keeps them together.
Notes: Originally published: London: Fourth Estate, 2009.