Water for Elephants: about the author

If you’ve ever wondered about the process of researching and writing a book, Sara Gruen talked with Dave Weich of Powell’s Books about how she came to writing fiction, the challenges of finishing the book, and how a woman who’d never been to the circus before starting Water for Elephants comes to write a novel about the Big Top.

How convincing is the narrative to you? Is it easy to suspend the disbelief that is isn’t really Jacob Jankowski telling the tale? Why or why not?

Read with me in August: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

It’s a bit of a late start, I know, but I hope you’ll join me this month for Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants. This well-received book focuses on elderly Jacob Jankowski, who joins a traveling circus after the death of his parents, using his veterinary skills to care for the animals, and becomes smitten with the animal trainer’s wife.

“For pure story, this colorful, headlong tale of a Depression-era circus simply can’t be beat. Heroes, villains, romance, a wild-animal stampede! Big fun from page 1.”—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly: “Best & Worst 2007” (Entertainment Weekly )

“You’ll get lost in the tatty glamour of Gruen’s meticulously researched world, from spangled equestrian pageantry and the sleazy side show to an ill-fated night at a Chicago speak-easy.”
—Washington Post (The Washington Post )

Pick up your copy at the Main Library’s circulation desk or click here to reserve your copy.

Wrapping up The Monsters of Templeton

How does Willie fit into her family tree? What similarities do you see between  Willie and her female ancestors? Her male ancestors?

Why does Vi choose this time to partially spill her secret about Willie’s paternity to her? Do you think that Vi would have told her eventually, regardless of Willie’s unexpected homecoming?

How does Willie’s opinion about her family and her hometown change? Could this change have happened without Willie knowing her paternity?

Is this a book you’d recommend to a friend? Why or why not?