“The Zookeeper’s Wife”

July 24, 2008 at 6:31 am | Posted in History, Nonfiction | 2 Comments

This has got to be one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in the last couple of years.  This book of Diane Ackerman’s is a tour de force.  It’s absolutely spell-binding.  The Zookeeper’s Wife has it all: compelling characters, a gripping plot with spine-tingling episodes one after the other, a fully realized backdrop, and a true fairy tale quality.  The latter owes to the sincerity of her animal portrayals.  The best part of this story is that it’s true!  Ackerman draws from the many published works of the two main protagonists, as well as interviews with eyewitnesses.

Have I convinced you to read it yet?  I know it’s hard to tell apart all these Wife books these days.  Check out this list:

The Time Traveler’s Wife

The Senator’s Wife

The Pilot’s Wife

Ahab’s Wife

Then, of course, there are movies like The Astronaut’s Wife and The Butcher’s Wife.  Yikes!  How are we supposed to keep all these things straight?  Anyway, I’d tell you just to buy this one, but The Time Traveler’s Wife is really good too, at least so far.