Written by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants explores one man’s journey traveling with a circus in 1931. The story takes place when a young man, Jacob Jankowski, is studying to be a veterinarian and his life is changed forever when he finds out his parents have been killed and the family vet practice has been taken by the bank. Left with little options, Jacob hops a train hoping to start a new life. Little does he know that he has landed on a circus train. The story follows Jacob and his life working as a vet with the circus and describes how his relationship with a circus performer changes his life forever.

Sara Gruen does an excellent job of describing the characters and the intricacies of circus life by describing how competitive various circus’s are and how circus’s end up with the performers (or “circus freaks” as they are referred to). Many of the circus performers are people who have no other means for income and put up with the hardships and sometimes cruel world of the circus, just to feel like they belong to the circus family.   

Ms. Gruen offers us a glimpse into a world that we might never have given a second thought. Many of us have been to the circus as a child and never entertain the thought of how these people live or where they came from or what makes a circus run efficiently. Ms. Gruen describes how she researched for this book and she includes several photos from circuses such as Ringling and many others. Water for Elephants is a book you won’t be able to put down!

Kristin Hurst is a Family Therapist with Families First and is a former employee of the Mason City Public Library. We thank her for her review.