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Well the summer is upon us and many of us are going to the beach. So here is a light beach read from the author Judy Reene Singer. This is her second novel after Horseplay. Still Life with Elephant is by turns humorous & sad.
Here's what Publisher's Weekly said of it.

From Publishers Weekly
Divorce is the elephant in the room for Singer's second novel, following Horseplay. When social worker turned horse trainer Cornelia "Neelie" Sterling finds out her vet husband, Matt, is cheating on her, she throws him out, but can't bear to make it legal. Faced with losing her house and barn, Neelie jumps aboard Matt's mission to Zimbabwe to rescue two wounded elephants, thinking the transatlantic journey will convince him to recommit to the marriage. There, she finds behemoths in need of care—and the philanthropist who's funding the trip. The secondaries lack texture, but Neelie's misguided struggle rings true. (July)

This was the Abingdon book group selection for June. In general we found it entertaining. It was not as humorous as we had thought, but was quite poignant in places, with some reflections on the terrible treatment of elephants by poachers in Africa. The descriptions of Africa were very nicely done and helped the reader appreciate why Neelie would want to return there. The novel deals with her husband's infidelity, horse training, elephant rescue, and the impact of a past tragedy on Neelie's present life. The humor comes mainly from her inability to hear or comprehend a lot of what is said to her, causing many misunderstandings. Her husband tells her he is getting a collie to help with the lions - or so Neelie hears, but really he is getting a colleague to help with the clients. The colleague turns out to be the one who also helps him with his love life, and so the story begins.

See Ms. Singer's website for her biography & other content.
http://www.judyreenesinger.com/

Labels: Africa, elephant rescue, horse training, Humorous Stories, infidelity