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    The Elephant Keeper: A Novel
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    The Elephant Keeper: A Novel
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    The Elephant Keeper: A Novel
    Ebook316 pages5 hours

    The Elephant Keeper: A Novel

    By Christopher Nicholson

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Intensely moving. [An] exceptional novel.”
    —Boston Globe

     

    A poignant and magical story set in eighteenth-century England, The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson is the tale of two baby elephants and the young man who accidentally finds himself their guardian. Every reader who was enchanted by Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants or enthralled by When Elephants Weep will adore Nicholson’s The Elephant Keeper—a masterful blending of historical novel, coming-of-age tale, animal adventure, and love story.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 4, 2009
    ISBN9780061898679
    Unavailable
    The Elephant Keeper: A Novel
    Author

    Christopher Nicholson

    Christopher Nicholson read English at Cambridge University. He has been a community development worker in Cornwall, and a radio scriptwriter and producer in London. He lives in Dorset. ‘The Elephant Keeper’ is his second novel.

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    Reviews for The Elephant Keeper

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      When I first received this book from the Early Reviewers program I was heartily involved in reading another book so I loaned the book to a co-worker. She came in the next day with sparkling eyes, saying that she LOVED it; "It's the best book I've read in a long time". Now...she and I are like oil and water so that wasn't enough to coax me into just "accepting" that the book would intrigue me or that I would fancy it as a marvelous read.I find that I agree with numerous other people in liking the first half of the book quite a bit better than the last. I found myself much more interested in Tom Page (The Elephant Keeper) as a young man, than Tom Page as an adult, six-pence-ing his way through London with women he tried to make into his childhood sweetheart who he had forsaken for her lack of understanding about the Elephants. Animal lovers will no doubt equally feel both joy at the passages about the good parts of the Elephant's lives and repulsion at the treatment of both them and other animals throughout. (Definitely not PETA approved)If you are one of those readers who thinks that a book cannot just be a story telling without moral or emphatic end, then the Elephant Keeper will probably leave you lacking in some way. If you are happy with prose on its own merit then I shall think you will find this easy and fast read by Christopher Nicholson, a good companion for an afternoon.
    • 4/5
      So touching.
    • 5/5
      Christopher Nicholson's 2009 novel "The Elephant Keeper" is quite a different book at the end than at the beginning.Tom Page is a young, poorly educated groomsman in 18th century England when the novel opens. When his master purchases two elephants, both barely alive after their voyage from India, Tom is put in charge of them, and they thrive under his care. As part of his job, Tom begins writing a history of these elephants, a male and a female.These early pages are little more than a simple presentation of the facts, measurements of these strange animals' growing bodies, reports on their behaviour and explanations of Tom's care and training.Gradually, as Tom and his elephants mature, so does the story. A plot begins to emerge from this recitation of facts and figures.The male elephant is sold, and Tom is left with Jenny, the name he has given the female. As the years pass, she is sold again and again to a series of people, with Tom going along as part of the deal. Eventually the two of them end up in London as part of a wild-animal act that, once the novelty wears off, plays to fewer and fewer people.One of the oddest love triangles in fiction develops as Lizzy, a girl who is sweet on Tom, resents the attention he devotes to the elephant, while Jenny seems threatened by Lizzy. Also odd is the communication between elephant and keeper, which seems to progress from understanding one another's thoughts to actual speech. The reader is left to decide whether these conversations are just figments ofTom's imagination or not.Such surprises continue as the story progresses, and in the end "The Elephant Keeper" has gone from a barely literate history of two elephants to something powerful and mysterious.If you liked "Water for Elephants," I think you will enjoy "The Elephant Keeper," too.
    • 3/5
      I started off really enjoying this book. I loved the characters of the elephants and I liked seeing Tom develop a connection with the elephants, especially Jenny. However as the book went on I found myself enjoying it less. Tom started to go a bit weird and I felt as if, in the end, the story just tailed off to nothing.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book from the first page to the very last. We follow Tom Page a young groom and now anew elephant keeper to a country estate in England and enjoy learning how to care and love these magnificent creatures as Tom creates a home for them in 18th century England. I was able to feel the kinship with the elephant the same kinship that Tom Page, the elephant keeper has. . We all inhabit the same world, animals and people. The love for elephants that this novel manifests grew in my heart as well. This novel is gentle, sweet and thought provoking.love this from a review "all told with a touch of the otherworldly elegance and wit of Babar."
    • 5/5
      England, 1766: After a long voyage from the East Indies, a ship docks in Bristol, England and rumor quickly spreads about its unusual cargo...a pair of young elephants.A wealthy sugar merchant buys the two and puts them in the care of Tom Page, a young stable boy.
    • 2/5
      I am not sure what the point of this book was.... It was just a rambling account of a boy who took care of an elephant and what happened in their day to day life. I kept reading, thinking that something would actually happen, but nothing did. The ending was the absolute worst ending I have ever read. It didnt actually tell you anything, it said maybe this happened, maybe that happened, but I dont know what actually happened. It was slow and boring and I would not recommend anyone read this book.
    • 3/5
      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 precedent 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 moreso, the story of the elephants who 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.
    • 3/5
      Beginning in the mid 1700s, The Elephant Keeper tells the story of Tom Page and the elephants entrusted to his care. Transported to England from Africa, the elephants have been locked in small crates for weeks and must slowly be nursed back to health by Tom Page, who eventually becomes completely responsible for them. Through time and patience (by both Tom Page and the reader), Tom ultimately comes to understand the elephant in a way no one else can, bonding with the giant animal of which almost everyone else is frightened.As the bond forms, Tom becomes completely consumed by elephants, unable to leave them even for a night. He must choose between a normal life with marriage and children, or a life caring for the elephants. Though this may seem an easy decision for most people, the love Tom has for the elephants makes it an extremely difficult one. The Elephant Keeper tells the story of their life together and the love each has for the other. Though the plot is occasionally tedious and repetitive, Christopher Nicholson does an excellent job depicting life in the England with such a strange animal, and the difficulty of choosing between love of the elephants and acceptance by others. Quinn A.
    • 4/5
      Set in 18th century England, this is the story of a boy who grows into adulthood as the keeper of at first two and later, a single elephant. The backdrop to the story follows two themes. The first is an insightful and at times confronting commentary on the social milieu of England at the time. The second is the growing 18th century fascination with exotic animals, imported into England to bring pleasure not only to the gentry, but also to the masses - and to suffer horrendously in the process. The author portrays sometimes with warmth and sometimes with menace, the differences between the classes, the power of the land owning gentry to make the life of the lower classes happy (occasionally) or abjectly miserable (more often) and the passive acceptance by the lower classes of their lot in life. The commentary on country and city (London) life is another well executed social contrast. The relationship between the keeper and his elephant/s is at first gently and sensitively developed but as the story progresses the author loses the constraint that was a strength in the earlier part of the novel. The keeper's relationship with the female elephant moves from one that is believable, to one that is a much less believable obsessional fantasy. There are quite lengthy "conversations" between man and beast, and the elephant experiences human like emotions. There are suggestions that at least in his dreams, the elephant is the object of the keeper's sexual fantasies. It is almost as though the elephant has transmogrified into a female human being. Quite why the author found it necessary to take this turn remains unclear. Is it an effort to explain the intensity of the keeper’s emotions and sense of responsibility for the elephant’s well being? Or to indicate that the keeper is losing his mind? Whatever, it was over the top, and it detracted from the overall experience of the read. The dual endings were an interesting, and I think successful device through which to conclude the story. It was the backdrop to the main story, with its cast of secondary characters (animal and human) in cameo roles that worked best for me, and gave the novel its strength. Overall, a good read that could have been memorable had the author been a little more disciplined in his plot development in the final third of the story.
    • 5/5
      Set in the latter half of the eighteenth century, this is a story about an elephant, perhaps the first to arrive in Britain, and its keeper Tom Page, the thirteen year old son of a groom. What starts Tom writing this account of the elephant he secretly names Jenny is a request from a visitor to his employer and owner of the elephant, a request for a History of the Elephant. For Tom has proved not only to be an able and knowledgeable elephant keeper, but it seems he is also able to communicate with Jenny, he can speak the language of the elephant. What follows however is much more than a History of the Elephant.Teenage Tom’s initial concern is his ability to write, he realises that while it is OK to say “try”, in writing one must say “strive”, “attempt” or “endeavour”, (This is after all 1773) so the prose of Tom’s account has a quaint preciseness; but this in no way distracts, in fact one is very soon hardly aware of it, yet it lends an endearing quality.I deliberated over choosing The Elephant Keeper, stories about animals do not usually appeal to me, but I do not regret my choice for once I started reading I could not put the book down. The story is absolutely captivating, the relationship and understating Tom and Jenny enjoy truly delightful. Soon Tom finds himself conducting lengthy conversations with his elephant, initially Tom relates these interchanges without the use of speech quotation marks, but later these subtly appear, seeming to emphasise the apparent reality of the communication. However the story is much more than a History of the Elephant; it is a story of adventure, and of the people who touch on the lives of Tome and Jenny, but is above all a story of a life-long bond of love and loyalty.I found the story so engrossing I read the book in almost one sitting; at times it would make me chuckle, even laugh; the latter part of the story was so moving I read from much of the time with a lump in my throat and was often close to tears. It is without doubt one of the most charming books I have read in a very long time.
    • 3/5
      The Elephant Keeper is a fictional story of a young horse groom who takes on the care of two elephants in 1700's England. The book is formatted as if Tom Page is writing it, as a record of the elephants' lives. It follows Tom and the elephants for several decades.This book was just a so-so read for me. It was a little too slow and thoughtful to keep me fully engaged.
    • 4/5
      Tom Page is the son of a groom and when his master decides to buy two elephants, he is the one who ends up taking care of them. He is asked to write a history of the elephants and this book is the result. As well as learning about the elephants we also learn about Tom and his life.The first two sections of the book were a very enjoyable, realistic portrayal of what life with an elephant must have been like at the time but the third section was less satisfying. In this the elephant starts having conversations with Tom and i wasn't entirely sure what to make of this - was she really talking or was this meant to convery a deterioration in Tom's state of mind.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful, beautiful book. I cried at least three times.
    • 5/5
      This book is stunning. It's a beautiful tale of the love and respect that can exist between a human and an animal, and I found myself engrossed in it from start to finish. Tom Page is a groom in the 1770s, working in a big hall in Somersetshire where he was born and brought up. The Lord for whom he works acquires two elephants, near to death after a long voyage from the Indies. Tom names them Timothy and Jenny and, once they have recovered, builds a relationship with them (and in particular with Jenny) in which they fully understand one another. In effect, Tom can speak elephant! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. I didn't know whether it would be a bit of a stuffy historical narrative, but it really isn't. Tom is commissioned by a later employer to write his story of life with the elephants and this is what the reader gets. The story is told by Tom throughout and I could feel his love for these gentle giants. The author really captured how intelligent elephants are and was able to convey their thoughts and feelings very well, through Tom's eyes and penmanship. I was moved to tears in more than one place by the story. The quality of the writing is superb, and I thought it was a wonderful book.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book. Beautiful writing and an unusual subject. I usually stay away from fiction set in the distant past because too often it feels stuffy and is frustrating to read. This novel is different. The main character seems like a real and decent person and the writing is such that I felt I was reading a well-written biography, not a made-up story.Don't reject the book because it's "about elephants." Really, it's about relationships, devotion, and a peaceful way to look at life.
    • 4/5
      Fictional books about animals are in vogue, with Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Yann Martel's Life of Pi, each experiencing an extended stay on the bestseller list.Add Christopher Nicholson's The Elephant Keeper to that list. The book cast a spell upon me, and I read it in two sittings, unable to put it down. Set in the late 1700s, the novel tells the tale of young Tom Page, who is tasked by his employer to write a book about the elephant he has been caring for many years.Tom's father was head groom to John Harrington, a wealthy sugar merchant. Tom loved horses and followed in his father's footsteps. One day, a ship from Africa unloaded on the docks and and two elephants were among the cargo. No one had ever seen such incredible creatures, and they were disoriented and ill from their long sea journey. Harrington was a shrewd businessman, and after asking Tom if he though the elephants would live, purchased them from the ship's captain.Tom takes to the elephants immediately and is eager to work with them. At first they were angry and wary of Tom, making several successful attempts to pick the locks of their crates to escape, but eventually they began to trust him.He names them Timothy and Jenny, although is careful to not share this information with anyone else less they think he is mad. I also think by not sharing their names with anyone else, he keeps them from becoming attached to anyone else; they belong only to Tom.Tom's relationship with the elephants sadly precludes normal relationships with humans, particularly women. He sleeps in the barn near the elephants, spends all his time with them, and when a lovely young lady named Lizzie wants to become closer to Tom, he spurns her. His responsibility is to the beautiful creatures whom he believes need him.As the story progresses, the reader is privy to dialogue between Tom and Jenny. Is Jenny really speaking to Tom, or is this an example of Tom sliding into some sort of madness?Not all goes well with Tom and the elephants, and the twists and turns of this tragic tale are masterfully told by Nicholson. The thought-provoking end to this magical story will be turned over in the mind of the reader for a long time, and I suspect people will either love the ending or hate it. I loved it.
    • 4/5
      What a heartwarming, realistic, and powerful story of devotion this is. I loved every minute of it. Set in 1770s England with just the right pace to create a feel for the times. Elephants fascinate me and I was worried that too much of the story might be taken up with people and their doings. But The Elephant Keeper really does tell the story of the elephants themselves, and their lives with their devoted keeper. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
    • 3/5
      The idea of a boy raising elephants and care-taking for them in eighteenth century England seemed like a good plot for a book. However, I never identified with the boy that raised the elephants or felt that I really cared one way or another about how the story would unfold in The Elephant Keeper. Perhaps that was the point since the main character largely lived without close human companionship and seemed to find it difficult to relate to others.However, the book was not uninteresting. Thanks to the historical details of England and London life during this time, I finished the book and felt I gained some value from the narrative. I also enjoyed the various other characters the protagonist found during his life and wished the author would have develop them more.
    • 5/5
      I love "nice" stories like this. A well told story written with grace.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of an eighteenth century boy who is given the job of elephant keeper by his first master. As the elephant is sold from one man to the next, the boy grows into an old man.A deep attachment is formed between both boy and elephant and is enjoyed in the first half of the novel. In the second half, one wonders about the emotional stability of the man.However, the picture of 18th century lives was compelling in that I could appreciate how slavelike life was. An interesting read for me - for the historical value and I'm a fool for any animal story. But I won't be recommending this to anyone who doesn't like animals.
    • 5/5
      A rich, satisfyingly detailed look at learning to live with, and love, a very unusual animal. The story provides a look at historical England life as well as how the Keeper learned how to care for his charge. The fact that the Keeper was just a mere boy when he first learned the love the elephants was great also. I loved the book.
    • 3/5
      The Elephant Keeper is the story of a young horse trainer who suddenly finds himself in charge of caring for two young elephants. Its a coming of age story for both the trainer and the elephants and the commonalities and contrasts make for an interesting twist. As the story progress the trainer develops a deep relationship with the female elephant and ultimately is able to communicate with her. I thought this part of the story was well written and I was able to suspend belief and enjoy their intimate connection. The book follows the pair through good fortune and bad as they are sold to various owners. Unfortunately, the book ends with the idea that there are many possibilities - maybe the end is just a dream, maybe any number of dreams can be true. All this mean is there isn't really any ending and you are left feeling the author couldn't really decide where to take the story. With a more satisfying conclusion this would have been a great book. Still, enough of the writing was engaging and the plot was interesting enough that I will look forward to reading Christopher Nicholson's next book.
    • 2/5
      I am usually not a big fan of books with animals as main characters. I decided to break away from this pattern and read The Elephant Keeper, especially that the description mentioned it to be 'a magical adventure'. The novel is set in 18th century England and the story is told by Tom Page, a keeper of two elephants he named Timothy and Jenny. By pure accident, Tom found himself to be their main caregiver since the day they arrived in England. The elephants were still pretty much babies and on the verge of dying. However, under the careful eye of Tom and his undivided attention, Timothy and Jenny survived. And Tom's life took an unexpected turn as he falls in love with the two animals and slowly but surely removes himself from the world of people.Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Well, it was okay in the beginning even though the style of writing (Tom's weird grammar with author's attempt to use the language as it may have been used in the times the story was set) took some getting used to. It also took me a while to get interested in the story of raising two elephants, the way Tom recounts his life as elephant keeper seemed emotionally distant to me and therefore I couldn't quite believe that he was all that devoted to Timothy and Jenny. But still, there was something in the story (probably the novelty of reading about elephants) that kept me going. Unfortunately, when I got about half-way through, the relationship between Tom Page and his female elephant, Jenny became just plain weird to me. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who might want to read it but when a man starts talking to an animal and receives answers and the conversations take on an intimate character, and when that same man starts having sexually suggestive dreams featuring the animal I have to start questioning the sanity of the whole novel. Which by the way, was not pitched as a fantasy but historical fiction. I did finish The Elephant Keeper because when I am already half done with a book I go on until the end, but it left me feeling slightly put off.
    • 4/5
      Since traumatized at an early age by the violent death of Bambi’s mother, I’ve not been one for animal stories. When forced to read Old Yeller in Junior High School, I curled myself up in a ball, chewed my fingernails, and wept. When asked to review The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson, my old fear of being forced to watch the demise of innocent animals reared its mighty head. Thankfully, I faced my fear. The Elephant Keeper is a warm, gentle tale set in 18th century England that follows the life of Tom from boyhood into middle age while devoting his life to the care of Elephants. Nicholson does a spectacular job of evoking 18th century England, both London and the countryside, through a vivid array of details and, most of all, through the lovely voice of its narrative. How can you be anything but safe in a novel that opens thusly: “It was six days ago that Lord Bidborough, accompanied by another gentlemen, came to the Elephant House and, after making the usual inquiries about my charge, who was, at the moment, quietly eating hay, asked whether it was true that, as he had heard, I was able to read.” Even in middle age and visiting prostitutes in London, there is an innocence about Tom that is endearing. The elephants, like the Houyhnhnms in Gulliver’s Travels are endowed with all this novel’s wisdom, and though I am not usually one to have patience for attributing animals with great powers of intellect, I found myself giving way to Nicholson’s artistic device and being thoroughly entertained. Each night as I picked up this novel, I would sigh in preparation for my pleasant interlude. Though this book has its share of both naughty and nice bits, taken as a whole, it definitely lands in the nice column. Enjoy!
    • 3/5
      I am having a hard time landing on a true overall opinion on the book, because it was definitely very readable and flowed very well(and was written well). On the other hand, some of the dialogue between Tom and Jenny was fairly contrived and not extremely believable. While it was certainly very clear Tom seemed to be unhealthily attached to Jenny, the progression to talking between the two was extremely abrupt and did not seem to happen "naturally." I would have liked there to be more characters that interacted with Tom along the way that watched this progression in his obsession and follow that rather than solely the two of them. The other characters were just fillers to create different scenarios for them to be in. I would have loved if the trip back to Harrington Hall was extended and more came out of it. Instead, it seemed like an unnecessary trip to make the big longer.All in all, I probably would be hesitant to specifically recommend this book, but if someone were to ask about it, I would say it's worth reading. Like I said, it was still an enjoyable read over all, but it went a different direction than I would have liked.
    • 4/5
      I won an ARC of this book and really liked it. I loved the first half of the book in which Tom Page tells the story of how he became the elephant keeper. The second half of the story, in which Tom and Jenny become part of a zoo or menagerie is a much darker story that is only hinted at in the beginning. One isn't sure if it is the elephant keeper who has gone mad, or if he is just being lonely and fanciful. I was very engaged in the characters and in the plot, but I felt that there were two different novellas combined into one book, and the author had not really resolved the nature of the story being told. This is a tragic love story similar in flavor to "The Time Traveler's Wife" - I had the same emotional response to the story.I am glad that I read it, and will definitely look for more works from this author, but I also feel the author has some room to improve in future works.
    • 2/5
      This book took me away to a world far away. It was a very nice flowing read in the beginning as I learned about the characters and about being an Elephant Keeper. Tom is a great character, and it was enjoyable to learn how he aquires these two elephants. The second part of the book had me questioning what had happedned? Why was Tom involved with wild women? Was it becase he had wild animals? But then again, lovely boys become certain type of men that leave some questioning.
    • 2/5
      I rate books a two or below when I can't finish them. This one wasn't a bad book... but I just couldn't find myself caring or getting engaged with the characters at all. I learned in "The Little Guide to your Well Read Life" that I should ask myself 'If I die tomorrow, do I want this to be the last book I ever read?'. I did that with this book and said "no".It's not a bad book... I just didn't care. Perhaps I will try it again someday? Perhaps not.
    • 5/5
      Oh, my. What a wonderful story, beautifully told. You might imagine that a story about a man in charge of an elephant in England in the late 1700’s can be all merry and bright, and it isn’t. You will cry. But it isn’t all heartache, either. You know from the very beginning that there is just one elephant, so you know you going to have to find out what happens to the other one. The author handles the relationship between the elephant and the keeper (and some of the other characters) in such a tender way that makes you rejoice that such people exist. And if you love animals, and reading about them as I do, then you will identify with a lot of the emotions written about here. And the ending is about as good as it could be, considering. This book stayed with me for a long time afterward. I highly recommend it, even though parts were hard to read. I loved it.I write my review, then I read some of the others. I think some of the comments below about the second half of the novel have some merit, but I still loved the book. I had trouble putting it down. I gage a book by how anxious I am to get back to it, and I was really anxious to get back to this one. Due to time constraints, took me a couple days.