warning-track power

Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen, © 2006
fiction; 330 pages

Set in America during the Great Depression, Gruen leads us through the reminiscing of an elderly man's time working for a traveling second-class circus. It's part love story part drama.

I say this is a warning-track power book because it has all the elements of an epic love story...villains, a beautiful woman, an interesting setting, and of course conflicts getting in the way of love, but it seems to fall short. I was never pulled fully into the lives of the characters and just didn't care by the end of the novel. It was interesting learning a bit about traveling circuses and daydreaming about the hardships during the Great Depression. All-in-all, I think there is better summer reading out there.

Consider it
disclaimer: if you do decide to read this book, be forewarned that there are a few graphic sexual scenes that are not for the more modest reader.