Orphaned and penniless at the height of the Depression, Jacob Jankowski escapes everything he knows by jumping on a passing train-and inadvertently runs away with the circus. Thrown into the chaos of a second-rate traveling show, Jacob is adrift in a world of freaks, swindlers, and misfits. Jacob uses his veterinary skills in the circus menagerie and becomes a savior for the animals he so loves, including a baffling elephant named Rosie. He also comes to know Marlena, the enchanting star of the equestrian act - and wife of August, a charismatic but cruel animal trainer. Caught between his love for Marlena and his need to belong, Jacob is freed only by a murderous secret that will bring the big top down. Water for Elephants is an enchanting page-turner, the kind of book that creates a world that engulfs you from the first page to the last.