Book: The Zookeeper’s Wife
Author: Diane Ackerman
Country: Poland
Review: 5/5
The Zookeeper’s Wife, is a little known true story of WWII, with the Warsaw zoo providing a brand new backdrop for a World War II book and bringing a fresh perspective on the tramuas that people were living through. Diane Ackerman’s book is beautifully written and incredibly well researched, giving light to these lesser known heroes. By weaving her own writing together with passages from Antonina’s own diary and supplementing this information from extensive interviews, Ackerman pulled together an incredible vision of the lives at the zoo. I recognize that this book may not be for everyone as it does read more like a history book in parts which has put some readers off; however, I think is an incredible story none the less. In the book you will also find a number of photographs that help bring to life the people that were essential to saving so many lives. I would also point people to this article detailing Ackerman’s discovery of this story in an interview https://buffalonews.com/news/a-quiet-… in which Ackerman explains how she found, researched, and wrote about the Zabinski’s lives. I cannot attest to the accuracy of the novel but is painted an in-depth, carefully constructed account of life at the zoo.
At first, I was unsure of how Diane Ackerman, an author who grew up in America, would fair at telling a story set in the days of war in Poland. Usually, I try to choose books that are written by authors of the countries that they are set in; however, Ackerman’s writing and research is so detailed and well-researched I found it to be a great testament to what I believe the country may have looked like at the time. She explained in an interview that her grandparents were from Poland, and their stories about the ancient breed of horses living their lead her to the story of Antonina Zabinski. In researching the unique story of the zoo directors, she says, “I began to see the extraordinary sensibility of Antonia who was very keenly attuned to animals and to the sensuous spectacle of everyday life and of nature. I found her utterly fascinating and wondrous. But, the more I read, the more glimpses I got that she wasn’t just welcoming endangered orphan animals into her villa and raising them there; she was also protecting endangered humans as well.” The subject matter is also close to my heart and a large reason why I settled on this book: as the Zabinskis story played out, my own late grandfather and his large family fled from their small village in Poland due to Eastern invasions, spending time in German refugee camps before making the long journey to settle in Canada. I picked up this book, hoping that Antonina’s story of terror, courage, and bravery could give me a small insight about my own family and how they may have experienced life all those years ago.
Stay tuned for other book recommendations for this country and other countries, and follow my journey on Instagram @beyondpageone and find more reviews on my GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/116494925-kaitlyn-nightingale Thank you and happy reading!
Feature image from Goodreads.