The Elephant Keeper: Book Review

By Wendy Robards

The Elephant Keeper, by Christopher Nicholson.

Only an Elephant. As if a creature as noble and brave as an Elephant, as fine and beautiful and intelligent as an Elephant, were worth no more than a common frog, or bird, or beetle, or rat. I gazed at her, the sack of carrots in my hand. 'When you say she is only an Elephant, you mean that she does not matter, when weighed in the scales. She doe not matter, she is unimportant. But that is not what I believe.' - from The Elephant Keeper -

Seventeen-year-old Tom meets two elephants one day on a wharf in England as they are unloaded from a ship. Both are near death and it is Tom who pulls them through. It will change his life. Tom names the elephants, a brother and sister, Timothy and Jenny. They take precedence in his life, cutting him off from developing romantic relationships, and dictating where he goes for all of his life.

The Elephant Keeper is the story of Tom, but more so, the story of the elephants whose fates were sealed when they were brought from India to England. The novel is a bit of a love story between two enormous beasts and their keeper.

Tom narrates the tale in several parts, the first of which is titled "The History of the Elephant," while the latter parts read more like a journal. Christopher Nicholson captures the flavor of the eighteenth century in this novel through the voice of Tom who works for several noblemen in his job as elephant keeper.

The strength of the book is the elephants themselves, especially Jenny whose docile nature and love of Tom develops over the years and is heartwarming. Other characters are not so engaging. Tom himself felt a bit flat to me as a character, perhaps in part because he does not develop many relationships with others except for the elephants and his day is completely wrapped around their care. Because of this, the plot unfolds very slowly and some of the details felt a bit tedious to me.

I wanted to love this book and thought I would because I love books about animals and their special relationships with people. Unfortunately the slow pacing and laid-back plot did not hold my attention. Although some readers may like this one, it is not a novel I can recommend.

Quality of Writing: Three and a half stars
Characters: Three stars
Plot: Two stars

Overall Rating: Three stars out of five

FTC Disclosure: I received this book from the Library Thing Early Review Program.

Catch all of Wendy Robard's reviews in her fabulous blog, "Caribousmom".