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Water for Elephants is the story of a Great-Depression-era circus told through the memories of ninety-something-year-old veterinarian, Jacob Jankowski. Jacob lives in an assisted living facility, where the highlight of the day is meal time. It’s a far different world from the one he inhabited as a young veterinarian, living on a train box car and caring for the menagerie of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Sara Gruen’s exhaustive research into the traveling circuses of the 1930s and 40s gives us a rare look into the fascinating, secretive subculture of that era’s big-top performers and roustabouts. Many of the most compelling anecdotes in Gruen’s well-told story are based on actual events.

Meet Sara Gruen:

When Sara Gruen was laid off from her position as a technical writer, her husband suggested she put her job hunt on hold and take a shot at her dream – writing fiction. Her first effort, Riding Lessons, was met with critical praise. Her third novel and New York Times Best Seller, Water for Elephants, has appeared on several lists of the best books of 2006. Gruen lives with her husband and three children in an environmentalist community near Chicago.