The Elephant Keeper
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Review
‘Captivatingly original…a wonderful feat of story-telling, remarkable for its ability to wrench your heart without resorting to sentimentality.’ Daily Mail
‘“The Elephant Keeper” evokes 18th-century village and estate life beautifully, and is stuffed with fascinating data from medical and veterinary history.’ Independent
‘Charming and courageous’ Sunday Express
‘This charming first novel, told in Tom's tender, somewhat melancholic voice, is an account of this unusual relationship.’ Independent on Sunday
‘Like the elephant at its centre, Nicholson’s book is gentle, profound and sweet-natured.’ Observer
‘A pleasingly ambling tale’ FT
Product Description
‘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.
Christopher Nicholson’s charming and captivating novel explores notions of sexuality and violence, freedom and captivity, and the nature of story-telling – but most of all it is the study of a profound and remarkable love between an elephant and a human being.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
What a delightful book! Tom Page is a stable boy who is given the responsibility of looking after two elephants who arrive at Bristol Docks in the late 18th Century. Tom is asked to write a history of the elephants and so begins to keep a journal of his life with the animals, eventually spanning more than twenty years.
Tom has secret names for his charges - Jenny and Timothy. Sadly the elephants become separated and the story progresses with Tom and Jenny moving from one country estate to another, where an elephant was a prestige acquisition, onto a less peaceful existence in later years.
Their journey is beautifully narrated and, as stated on the cover, involves "sexuality, violence, freedom and captivity" - and quite a few laughs for the reader. The love shared between the elephant and her keeper is charming. I highly recommend this book; the only problem I had was putting it down.
Tom, Jenny and Timothy, I love you all! And thank you to Christopher Nicholson for such a wonderful book.
Tom has secret names for his charges - Jenny and Timothy. Sadly the elephants become separated and the story progresses with Tom and Jenny moving from one country estate to another, where an elephant was a prestige acquisition, onto a less peaceful existence in later years.
Their journey is beautifully narrated and, as stated on the cover, involves "sexuality, violence, freedom and captivity" - and quite a few laughs for the reader. The love shared between the elephant and her keeper is charming. I highly recommend this book; the only problem I had was putting it down.
Tom, Jenny and Timothy, I love you all! And thank you to Christopher Nicholson for such a wonderful book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Just occasionally a book comes into my life to remind me that reading is by far my prefered form of entertainment. Immersing myself into the metaworld of a novelist's imagination brings the acutest of pleasures. This book, The Elephant Keeper is one such.
I doubt if I would ever have come across it had it not been for the Amazon Vine Programme so for that I am trutly grateful.
The book is set in the 18th century and primarily deals with the relationship between a groom, Tom Page and his elephant, Jenny. The research into the scientific advancrs of the time make for an educational read but this is not a book that simply improves ( as was the style of the period in which it is set). Tom is a self taught lad who is as at sea with the use of the language he needs to set down his "History of the Elephant" as he is with the care of her and, initially, her brother who is sold on to a new master after a troubling turn due to the male elephant, Timothy, being "on heat" which is another theme in the book as human and elephant alike are brought low by their "animal" instincts.
The structure of the novel is also intriguing as it follows the development of the early novel through direct narrative, history and diary or journal piecing the story together and making it wonderfully alive and relevant. Tom, the narrator and journal keeper often revels in his own creativity to conjur a possible rather than the real world and in so doing we see his development as a writer of imagination.
Not wishing to spoil any pleasure for the reader I can not bring myself to write of the outome of the strange liaison between boy and beast but I can not recommend this book too highly. It has, for me, set a standard ,in this new year, of excellence in writing and if the author is not rewarded in some way there is no justice in the literary world.
The book has left me with many images not least the one of Tom and his master teaching Jenny how to drink from a wine glass and, just so that the reader will not think this a story of whimsy, the letter written describing the fate of the male elephant, taken from his sister, is just possibly one of the most heartbreaking sequences I have ever read.
If you read no other book in 2009 read this. In fact put it on your wish list immediately. You will not have read anything like this before, believe me
I doubt if I would ever have come across it had it not been for the Amazon Vine Programme so for that I am trutly grateful.
The book is set in the 18th century and primarily deals with the relationship between a groom, Tom Page and his elephant, Jenny. The research into the scientific advancrs of the time make for an educational read but this is not a book that simply improves ( as was the style of the period in which it is set). Tom is a self taught lad who is as at sea with the use of the language he needs to set down his "History of the Elephant" as he is with the care of her and, initially, her brother who is sold on to a new master after a troubling turn due to the male elephant, Timothy, being "on heat" which is another theme in the book as human and elephant alike are brought low by their "animal" instincts.
The structure of the novel is also intriguing as it follows the development of the early novel through direct narrative, history and diary or journal piecing the story together and making it wonderfully alive and relevant. Tom, the narrator and journal keeper often revels in his own creativity to conjur a possible rather than the real world and in so doing we see his development as a writer of imagination.
Not wishing to spoil any pleasure for the reader I can not bring myself to write of the outome of the strange liaison between boy and beast but I can not recommend this book too highly. It has, for me, set a standard ,in this new year, of excellence in writing and if the author is not rewarded in some way there is no justice in the literary world.
The book has left me with many images not least the one of Tom and his master teaching Jenny how to drink from a wine glass and, just so that the reader will not think this a story of whimsy, the letter written describing the fate of the male elephant, taken from his sister, is just possibly one of the most heartbreaking sequences I have ever read.
If you read no other book in 2009 read this. In fact put it on your wish list immediately. You will not have read anything like this before, believe me
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Christopher Nicholson's The Elephant Keeper is an engrossing story, set in the 18th century, of a young man's relationship with two elephants brought to England as he first becomes their keeper and thence establishes a much closer, almost telepathic bond with them.
In a similar way to Robert Bresson's film Au Hasard Balthazar (where for elephants read a donkey), the elephants in this story hold a mirror up to mankind's foibles, eccentricities and saving graces, as with Tom they pass through a succession of owners, some who treat them with kindness and some not.
The story becomes increasingly poignant as the book progresses, as Tom must come to terms with the consequences of choosing a life devoted to the care of his elephants rather than a more conventional existence. In the end it is no longer clear whether the book is about a man who keeps elephants, or an elephant who keeps a man; perhaps it is about both.
In a similar way to Robert Bresson's film Au Hasard Balthazar (where for elephants read a donkey), the elephants in this story hold a mirror up to mankind's foibles, eccentricities and saving graces, as with Tom they pass through a succession of owners, some who treat them with kindness and some not.
The story becomes increasingly poignant as the book progresses, as Tom must come to terms with the consequences of choosing a life devoted to the care of his elephants rather than a more conventional existence. In the end it is no longer clear whether the book is about a man who keeps elephants, or an elephant who keeps a man; perhaps it is about both.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
engrossing
A lovely book set in the 1700's about Tom Page, a horse groom turned elephant keeper. Timothy and Jenny are the elepephants under Tom's charge. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. C. Power
the elephant keeper
this novel gives the strong impression that it has been closely based on historical fact. It therefore lends real atmosphere and veracity to the narrative. Read more
Published 8 months ago by perfumedpig
Man and Beast
This is a bit of an odd book. In some ways it is quite a simple story of a boy and his elephant, set in a very interesting time period (late 1700s) when attitudes to things like... Read more
Published 9 months ago by D. Gilman
Fantastic! Buy It!
Beautifully written, totally engaging story. I heard it serialised on R4, but the book is so much better, if you are dithering, just don't, get it now and you won't be... Read more
Published 10 months ago by caro
Elephant Story
Had already listened to this on Radio 4 and loved it so much I wanted to read it for myself. I was not disappointed; it was great to read and remember what I had already heard.
Published 10 months ago by staffyowner
follow on
Listened to the story of the Elepahant Man as a series on Womans Hour, so was delighted to be able to buy it, inexpensively and in hardback version. Can't wait to start it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by stick insect
Hauntingly beautiful book.
probably, like me, you wouldn't normally pick up a book with a title like this. I did, in my local library one day and was hooked after the first page. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. D. M. Maher
Delightful tale
I loved this book. Heard it read (absolutely brilliantly by Roger May as an audiobook)before I read it. Can't praise it highly enough. Read more
Published 11 months ago by chrisrobin
Teamwork!
I was given this book by a friend - and read it in a couple of days, so must have been quite enthralling! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. Michael Lumsden
Magnificent!
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. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Nicola
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