Here is a book review about "Water for Elephants" written by Sara Gruen.
Heather, my wife, posted that this book had the best ending ever. I can imagine reasons why she would particularly like this ending, but I don't want to spoil the story.
This book had just about everything I like, such as circuses, interesting historical detail, complex well developed characters, trains, a love story, and even languages.
I can see why they made it into a movie - the plot itself is gripping and compelling. Once I started it, I was quickly hooked - whether I wanted to or not.
The characters were often flawed, which made for more realism in the story. I really liked the authentic historical detail. There was enough detail to add interest to the story, but not so much as to distract from any of the stories.
There was also a good deal of jargon or slang that went with the circus. The story introduces these terms as our hero learns them. This particular story had more than one hero, but was told by the main "hero".
I was surprised by the ending, and I was also surprised by how much the author could fill out a character (such as Rosemary) with so few lines of description.
I would say this book is well worth reading, and not just while traveling or on vacation. I would suggest not starting it unless you have a few hours available to you over the next few days. It really will pull you in.
The book is published by Algonquin books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing and runs 331 pages. The edition I had also included an Author's Note, an interview of the author, and book club questions.
