Description: Amazon Significant Seven, September 2007: On the heels of Alan Weisman's The World Without Us I picked up Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper’s Wife. Both books take you to Poland's forest primeval, the Bialowieza, and paint a richly textured portrait of a natural world that few of us would recognize. The similarities end there, however, as Ackerman explores how that sense of natural order imploded under the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jan and Antonina Zabiniski--keepers of the Warsaw Zoo who sheltered Jews from the Warsaw ghetto--serve as Ackerman's lens to this moment in time, and she weaves their experiences and reflections so seamlessly into the story that it would be easy to read the book as Antonina's own miraculous memoir. Jan and Antonina's passion for life in all its diversity illustrates ever more powerfully just how narrow the Nazi worldview was, and what tragedy it wreaked. The Zookeeper’s Wife is a powerful testament to their courage and--like Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise--brings this period of European history into intimate view. --Anne Bartholomew
Details: The Zookeeper's Wife by Ackerman
This is a true story based on the husband and wife caretakers of the Warsaw Zoo during WWII. It tells a great deal about the animals in the zoo and the caretakers; there is also the story of the Underground movement and the help given to remove Jews from the Warsaw ghetto by the zoo caretakers. These escapees became the guests at the main house at the zoo and were often placed in the animal houses, to hide them from the German soldiers.
Review Summary: Profoundly moving
Date: 2008-10-23
Details: This book is an emotional roller coaster. Ackerman starts out displaying her marvelous descriptive skills, setting the stage.
"...on warm days, when the linden trees' creamy yellow tassels drugged the air with the numbing scent of honey and the rhumba of bees."
The linden trees are mentioned throughout the book as a bit of respite and a oasis of normality.
Ackerman's telling of the atrocities that happened in the Warsaw ghetto is strong and powerful and numbing. She counters that with the crux of the book which is the story of the bravery and creativity and survival skills of Antonina, the zoo keeper's wife, and the underground activities of Jan, her husband. Their story is surrounded by the amazing stories of the people of Poland who risked everything to save those at risk. The bravery and ingenuity and humanity wouldn't be believed if this was a book of fiction.
I feel enriched in having read this book and having my eyes opened to their story.
Review Summary: A fantastic read!
Date: 2008-10-21
Details: Whether you like animals or not, this is an amazing true story about WWII in the Warsaw Zoo. Couldn't put it down--fantastic character descriptions and events in living detail. What amazing people--very inspirational!
Review Summary: The Zookeeper's textbook
Date: 2008-10-14
Details: The Zookeeper's Wife was an interesting piece of work. A lovely story that read like investigative or textbook writing.
Review Summary: Too bad the story is not a story
Date: 2008-10-12
Details: I am only giving this book 3 stars because the research is fantastic and the story needs to be told. However I put the book down after merely 65 pages. The first chapter was excellent; told from the Zookeeper's Wife's point of view and well written. After that it was a mix of quotes from what I assume are diaries and historical research. I would rather read the diaries than this disjointed tale. Very disappointed as I saved this book to read on vacation.
out of 86 Reviews
