About the Author, Sara Gruen

Sara Gruen was born in Vancouver, and has lived in London and Ottawa, Ontario. She started writing books in 2001, and has recently published her fourth novel, Ape House.

Her previous works are Riding Lessons, Flying Changes, and our 2010 OBOB choice, Water for Elephants. All of Sara’s books deal with animals and she is a supporter of numerous charitable organizations dealing with animals and wildlife. At present, Sara lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, four cats, two horses, and a goat in North Carolina.

Initially declined by her publisher, Water for Elephants eventually became such a success, spending 12 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best-seller List selling 248,000 copies. The movie rights have been optioned to Andrew R. Tennenbaum, a co-producer of the Jason Bourne spy movies, in a deal worth more than $1 million. The movie is currently in casting, with Reese Witherspoon and Rob Pattinson selected for the starring roles.

Before starting Water for Elephants, Sara was working on a different novel when she saw a vintage newspaper photo of a 30s era travelling circus. She completely immersed herself in this new topic, ordering books online, visiting rare book stores, and watching documentaries on the Depression. She made trips to the Baraboo Circus Museum in Wisconsin and the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida.

As to the older character of Jacob, Sara claims to have a lot of longevity on both sides of her family and felt “there was this old guy in my head just wanting to talk. So I let him.”

Her research led her to many true stories of elephants and circus workers that she used to develop her characters, both animal and human, including a sideshow owner who keeps a collection of shrunken heads in his house and a real elephant who would steal lemonade and let the roustabouts take the blame.

Sara loves to read all manner of books, from Hemingway to Huckleberry Finn, and credits growing up in Vancouver and scuba diving with with her dream of one day living by the sea.

Read More

• Sara Gruen's website
• Author Sara Gruen's research introduces readers to elephants, apes and more - newspaper article

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