Finished Reading: The Zookeeper’s Wife
Besides the disturbing mention of blood clots, I found The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman to be as interesting and well-researched as many folks had told me, and the story drew me in and (except for p. 180) kept my mind off my current medical woes.
It’s the story of a family living in WWII Warsaw. Before the war, Jan was the zookeeper of the Warsaw Zoo. After the war set in, he and Antonina held a variety of different legitimate positions given to them by the occupying Germans, all the while using their empty, bombed-out zoo and its villa as a safe house for Jews escaping the Ghetto. The amount of detail is fascinating, in large part due to journals that Antonina kept.
Besides providing an amazing safety net for at least 300 Jews over the course of the war, the family had an interesting villa life with their ever-changing Guests and an at-home zoo as well. Photos are included of their son, young Rys, walking a badger in the garden and Jan cuddling with a lynx. The animal stories are interspersed with the war & resistance stories and paint an amazing picture of a family who managed to thrive under incomprehensible conditions.
The Zookeeper’s Wife was part of my Spring Reading Thing 2009 challenge – PisecoDad picked it up at the library for me earlier this week.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I am going to have to add this to my list! Thanks for the review.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I’m gonna look for this when Summer Reading starts at the library.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
My friend Jeane would love this book. Thanks for the review.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:07 am
[...] Mind Games added an interesting post on Finished Reading: The Zookeeperâ [...]
March 30th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I have looked at this one and am definitely going to be adding it to my list for summer.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:15 am
[...] 3. The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman is the story of the director of the Warsaw Zoo – and his wife – who sheltered hundreds of Jews and Polish resisters in their cages and animal houses during WWII. (Finished, and reviewed here.) [...]
April 18th, 2009 at 1:57 am
[...] Tents)72. Just One More Book! Children’s Book Podcast (Before You Were Here, Mi Amore)73. PisecoMom (Zookeeper’s Wife)74. PisecoMom (Emergency)75. PisecoMom (Watchmen)76. PisecoMom (Kids’ books based on [...]
August 21st, 2009 at 9:35 pm
[...] and Peace (My Two Blessings)32. My Son, John (Deena w/giveaway)33. Becky (Fireflies in December)34. PisecoMom (The Zookeeper’s Wife)35. Becky (Streams of Babel)36. Turning the Paige (Pattie@FBW)37. The Book of the Dead [...]