The Zookeeper's Wife
Diane Ackerman
When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw, and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, sookeepers Jan and Antonia Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinski's villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the enephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonia kept her usual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants; otters, badger, hyena pups, lynxes.
With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonia refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her.
Book club meeting is Mexican themed seeing as it will take place on Cinco de Mayo! Keep reading and we'll meet in a week and a day!
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