Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen has it all- romance, jealous husbands, murder… the circus, an elephant with a penchant for alchohol and so much more.

The novel follows Jacob Jankowski, an old man (unhappily) living in a nursing home. He gets occasional, unmemorable visits from his children and finds comfort in complaining about the food. One fine day the circus comes to town. As they begin to set up the tent right across from the nursing home, Jacob’s mind slips back and forth between the present and the past.

When Jacob was in college, his parents were killed in a car accident. Reeling from the news, he walks out of his final college exam before becoming a veterinarian and runs away. He stumbles on a passing train, jumps on, and interrupts a group of circus folk. After narrowly escaping being tossed from the moving train by a muscly circus worker, Jacob joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth (which turns out to NOT be the most spectacular show) as the new vet. Soon, Jacob finds himself with a roommate who harbors an intense dislike for him, falling for a beautiful circus perfomer (who happens to be married to a very jealous man) and almost getting his arm taken off by a tiger.

Water for Elephants is an original, creative novel- a real page-turner, filled with great descriptions and an interesting cast of characters. But the story goes further than a behind-the-scenes drama at the circus. The treatment of the animals often mirrors that of the circus workers. They are treated as a commodity- without humanity. But the struggle, compassion and developing relationship between the workers and the animals adds real beauty to the novel. It’ll get you from the first paragraph and keep you gripped until the last page.