The Elephant Keeper - Christopher Nicholson

I asked the sailor what an Elephant looked like; he replied that it was like nothing on earth. In the middle of the 18th century, a ship docks at Bristol with an extraordinary cargo: two young elephants. Bought by a wealthy landowner, they are taken to his estate in the English countryside. A stable boy, Tom Page, is given the task of caring for them. The Elephant Keeper is Tom's account of his life with the elephants. As the years pass, and as they journey across England, his relationship with the female elephant deepens in a startling manner. Along the way they meet incredulity, distrust and tragedy, and it is only their understanding of each other that keeps them together.

Why read – I don't think I would have chosen this book having seen it in a shop, was donated this copy by a friend.

The plot is split into three sections, the first is the boys history in regards to becoming the Elephant keeper, how he became this role, and where the elephant came from. The middle section is the present, where the owner of the elephant (and subsequently the keeper) changes hands, and the third is the conclusion. The style of writing changes slightly and the tempo of the book with each section.

I loved the idea of this book, just not the execution, I read it quickly as I wanted to get through it. And especially in the final third I did not read it fully just skimmed to the end. I wanted to love the story and get involved with how it was to be growing up looking after an animal you have never even heard of let alone had skills in bringing it up. Their was an almost artificial feel to the story and almost to easy for the boy to look after this elephant without knowledge of how. The first section was the best section and it was the most interesting in explaining how this animal came to the Uk and how the boy became accustomed to the animal. But as the story developed the plot thinned out and their really was not much too it.

In the second and third chapters the Tom (the Keeper) started talking to the elephant on an unrealistic level and that just annoyed me. It was like he was having a conversation with the animal and it just did not feel right to the book. The mood changed and the book got even more darker and depressing. The plot did not flow right and their was nothing much to it. Unfortunately it felt like the author had not quite got to grips with the plot lines, and was writing from a fantastical point of view on thinking what it may have been like. I wish their was slightly more grip on reality. Also for a book set in the 18^th century the language and the turn of phrases used was so modern it did not feel quite old enough to be comfortably set in the time period it was meant.