The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Well, since historical fiction is my favorite genre - and this is actually history that reads (mostly) like fiction - I liked it a lot.  This was a story that I was not familiar with.  I am so impressed with the people who aided the Jews during the holocaust - in every country connected with WWII.  These people put their lives - and the lives of their families - in danger to save strangers because it was "the right thing to do".  Simply amazing - and courageous.

I am not a big fan of authors who write using a ton of descriptive language, which this author does, but the story itself was extremely interesting.  I wish we could have learned more about the relationship between Jan and Antonina.  They both were extremely brave and they both had their part in helping the Jews, but we don't get any details about their marriage - and they don't seem to communicate with each other about what the other is doing.  Obviously they were both stressed, and Jan certainly put himself out there and could have been caught several times, but I never got a good sense of them working "together", other than accepting Jews in their home.  Jan certainly seemed hard on Antonina at times, but I guess it's another sign of the times.  Women were simply expected to take care of their husbands, their children, and their home - and they didn't seem to get any appreciation from their husbands for doing so.  Very similar to Alexander & Tatiana.

Their love for animals was certainly impressive!  Not sure I could have all those animals living with me! Obviously, Antonina was a woman not easily rattled.  Zoos get such a bad rap because they are essentially caging up wild animals for people's viewing pleasure.  Jan & Antonina were genuine animal lovers though - and the perfect people to run a zoo.  I think it's interesting that it was the Nazis that "saved' some of the animals by moving them for their own "collection".  Of course it was also the Nazis that destroyed the rest.  

I loved the pictures in the middle of the book.  Pictures always bring a sense of "realness" to a story.  That this family saved over 300 people and manged to survive themselves is an amazing story during a very tragic time in history.

Apparently what they say is true: Behind every strong man is a stronger woman!  (Or something like that). Because there are certainly a lot of books with "wife" in the title! (The ______'s Wife).

Wendy's Rating: ****