See's engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women, and their betrayal by pride and love. Lisa See transmits historical background in graceful prose. Her in-depth research into women's ceremonies and duties in China's rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women's inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life. This is both a suspenseful and poignant story.

April 11, 2008 10:00 a.m.

The story line is a simple look at village life as a key milestone event of the One Hundred Year anniversary is to occur. There are heated arguments over what to do. That is until one thinks of some of the same types of debates in America such as the centennial celebration for the Statue of Liberty, the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, and even the one-hundredth anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Smith (Oral History, Family Linen) has created Ivy Rowe, the narrator of this novel written in the form of letters as a fully rounded heroine living in Virginia’s Appalachia region. The letters begin around the turn of the century when Ivy is a child living with eight siblings on the family farm on Blue Star Mountain. Using the vernacular of Southern speech, the letters reflect the harsh poverty of farm life, as well as the simple beauties of the land. Ivy's talent as a budding writer is recognized early on, but just as she is about to realize her dream of going North to school, she is betrayed by her passionate nature. She marries a childhood friend who takes her back to the family homestead, where she bears several children and endures the endless toil of a farmer's wife. Ivy is a woman of captivating appeal and endearing faults: bright, with a poet's eye and soul; spunky, impetuous, sensual and proud. Following her heroine over seven decades, Smith expresses the changing conditions of life in Appalachia. In the old tradition of oral storytelling, Smith has fashioned a dramatic, magical, poignantly true-to-life tale.

Jacob Jankowski in his 90’S is living out his days in a nursing home. His life wasn't always like this. Jacob in his early 20’s dropped out of veterinary school and joined the circus. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident and when he learned that they had left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, he returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale. Jacob finds the animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. When it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, Jacob is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. In Water for Elephants we are introduced to Gruen‘s menagerie of characters: Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the self-appointed “Protector of the Downtrodden”, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea. He also meets the other love of his life, Rosie the elephant. The ending is just like the circus filled with magic and convinces the reader to suspend disbelief.