As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
I really enjoyed this book. Sara Gruen does an amazing job weaving time back and forth, so that the story comes from both young Jacob and old Jacob. It also paints a poignant picture of circus life... and how easily people are taken advantage of because of their looks, their differences and their talents. You almost instantly fall in love with Jacob and learn to hate August. The book also has lots of different pictures from old circus archives (they look cool even on the Kindle!) that help you to understand what life was like.
This is definitely a great book and I recommend reading it! My next book is "Decoded" by Jay-Z. Yes, I know, a big departure from my normal reading, but I saw an interview with him on Oprah and it sounded like a pretty cool book!
In other news, I absolutely cannot believe that today is the last day of January! We've already made it through one month of 2011!
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