The White Bone

I love reading but have to be careful not to get into a rut. I do like my mysteries but need to branch out and find more literary styles. Am always open to suggestions...hint hint.

Right now on my nightstand is The White Bone, by Barbara Gowdy. Hard to describe: Amazon says it's a 'saga'...yep. It's that. It's actually a novel about the lives of several families of elephants struggling against drought and human travesties. I have a feeling I'll be the loner, amongst my own reader friends, in adoring this book, but I do. The elephants' personalities are quite vivid and I find myself abhorring the impact of humans on their complex lives. The author has done extensive research which I appreciate.

I'm not quite done but felt compelled to share. Hope you try it and love it, too.

Here's part of a review (by Larry Looney) I found on Amazon:

"The key, I think, to understanding and enjoying this wonderful novel lies in the quote from author Joy Williams that appears on the back cover: `This sorrowful novel does holy work because it engages us in that holiest of acts - empathy'. Rarely have I come across a creation as beautiful as this book - or as sad. The reviewers below who take issue with the `lack of plot' and the mourning that seems to occur on every other page should stop for just a moment and think about the world in which elephants live - a world that has seemingly focused itself on their destruction as a species, all for the prize of their ivory tusks. There are laws in place today to make an attempt to stem this slaughter - but poaching remains a constant threat, and more aggressive steps are obviously needed to save these gentle creatures."