The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife

1st Edition

Hardback (19 Oct 2007)

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Paperback (09 May 2013) RRP $13.87 $12.68

Publisher's Synopsis

When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw-and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' 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 elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants-otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina 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 information

ISBN: 9780393061727
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Imprint: W.W. Norton and Company
Pub date:
Edition: 1st Edition
DEWEY: 940.5318350943841
DEWEY edition: 22
Language: English
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 540g
Height: 218mm
Width: 149mm
Spine width: 33mm