Thursday, April 21, 2011

My Read of the Week: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I'm a sucker for romance & all things vintage, so I am looking forward to reading Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants this week on my Kindle, which just happens to also be adapted for a film that comes out this Friday (which I hope to go see). While I normally don't like to see a film based on a novel that I haven't read, this one looks to be very promising, not to mention that it stars the gorgeous Mr. Robert Pattinson (**swoons**) and the lovely Reese Witherspoon!

Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants centers on the love and lives of a young man training to be a veterinarian and a gorgeous circus performer married to the circus' leader.

*Image courtesy of Amazon

Goodreads relays the synopsis for this particular novel (ISBN 1565125606):

"Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive 'ship of fools'. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival."

I am very excited about reading Water for Elephants and seeing how it compares to the film! I especially can't wait to see the costuming and wardrobes of the era used in the movie!