Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story

by Daphne Sheldrick

Hardcover, 2012

Status

Available

Publication

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2012), Edition: 1, 352 pages

Description

A conservationist who has dedicated her life to saving orphan elephants in Africa describes her relationships with her late husband, Tsavo Park warden David Sheldrick, and a host of animals, including the majestic elephant, Eleanor.

Rating

(55 ratings; 4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member acook
This book is both fascinating and at times almost unbearably sad to read. It is an autobiographical story of a woman who grew up in Kenya while it was still a British colony. Her family was involved in wildlife protection and helped establish the national parks there. She ends up an authority on
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saving orphan elephants and rhinos, and along the way we hear horrible stories about the poaching of these magnificent animals that has gone on (and is still going on) over the years. She also has many amusing stories about all the orphan animals she and her family saved, so it's not all grim; I often had trouble putting it down. There is also quite a bit of history presented in a highly personal fashion, ie how the transition from British colony to independent Kenya actually affected people. I highly recommend it, you can skip over the worst parts.
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LibraryThing member bookwoman247
This was a wonderful memoir of the author's passion for African wildlife as well as her deeply abiding love for her second husband, David Sheldrick. This was such a lovely book, in fact, that I'm now reluctant to leave Africa, so my next book will be about Africa as well.
LibraryThing member peggygillman
At first I thought she spent too much time on her life and not enough on the animal stories but after a while, I grew to love her story. A lovely book. What an amazing woman with infinite patience for her baby elephants. 7/3
LibraryThing member PennyMck
A heart-warming story of people communicating with animals, protecting Kenya's national parks, and rescuing orphaned animals and returning them to the wild.
LibraryThing member ljhliesl
I didn't realize for a large chunk of the book that this is the woman whom 60 Minutes profiled. Baby elephant orphanages being thin on the ground, of course it's the same person. I appreciated her own and her family's memories as white Africans, but I cannot quite grasp how someone who has never
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been to England can claim to be British or how, while claiming to be British, can simultaneously resent Kenyan independence.
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LibraryThing member DubaiReader
A woman with a profound love for animals.

In rating this book I have tried to remove the negative effect of the awful narration of my audiobook. 14hrs 45mins of Virginia McKenna's incorrect emphases and overly sickly reading was a test of endurance, but the true characters were the animals and they
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were impossible not to love.

Daphne Sheldrick has spent her whole life in Kenya, raised to love and respect the wildlife around her. She came from an era where hunting was the norm, but gradually it became apparent that the wildlife was not being replaced at the rate that it was being exterminated, and she subsequently devoted her life to rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned animals.

This is also a love story, not between Daphne and her first husband, but with her second husband, David Sheldrick, warden of the Tsavro Game Park, who she subsequently lost to a heart attack at the age of 57. He was a great supporter of the animals and devoted his life to fighting both poaching and mass culling. In his name the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was set up to continue the work he started.

However, it was the animals that really stole the limelight. Rhinos and elephants, antelopes and giraffes all raised together and the best of friends. and the amazing telepathy between them. How Daphne managed to struggle on whenever one of her orphans died for whatever reason, I will never know, I had tears running down my face as I listened.

My feeling is that I wished I'd read this book rather than listening to it. I also suspect that there may have been photographs in the book version, and I would love to have seen these.
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LibraryThing member lamotamant
I think the world would be a poorer place if it lacked Dame Daphne, David Sheldrick, and those that have worked with and been inspired by them. I believe the Sheldricks, via Daphne's writing as well as in their actions for wildlife welfare, have provided ample proof of the richness of life that
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comes with finding one's passion and committing entirely to it; that a life of such passion for a just cause is filled with ripples that flow out from a central inspiration and have far-reaching effects.

This being said, I experienced a distinct emotional remove from parts of Sheldrick's narrative. The root of such probably burgeoning, in part, from Mrs. A's Creative Writing class back in high school. Memoir writing and reading being a significant part of the course. I tend to hear her telling us to help our readers see our memories rather than having them picture us squinting into the midst of recollection from a remove by consistently employing phrases like, "I will always remember..." and the like whenever I sit down to read a memoir. I'd hope that you'd remember an event disclosed in your memoirs so I'm of the same opinion- I want the essence of said memory without the burden of a recollected remove employed prior or, worse, employed often. Sheldrick makes use of this phrase and similar in both ways and it felt like a hindrance to connecting with a lot of her personal reflections.

Exacerbating this hindrance was the jumpiness of the narrative in places. I felt that it took effort to remain steeped in the story while trying to connect names and times in the background and would have preferred a more fluid telling.

All in all, there was certainly a lot of love, life, and Elephants. I do feel it was an immense undertaking and that several animal's voices could be heard throughout. So while there were points I didn't enjoy because of my personal takes (i.e. Sheldrick's opinion on one person/one vote which would consequently give black Kenyans the majority - an opinion that could have been enriched by a more personal fleshing out concerning her fears & potential loss of the only home she knew but that came off the page as a very biased and selfish view that seemed to push aside the feelings and rights of others in an unflattering lack of empathy and acknowledgement.) to narrative pacing and consistency, I still thought highly of other points that make me grateful for the read.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Digital audiobook narrated by Virginia McKenna

Subtitle: An African Love Story

From the book jacket: Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years
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of observing Kenya’s rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death.

My reactions
This is a wonderful memoir that takes the reader from Sheldrick’s birth and childhood through her teen years, and first love, on to the love of her life, David Sheldrick, and the work they accomplished together. He truly inspired her to a variety of achievements, perhaps most famously the founding of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the orphans’ nursery in Nairobi National Park.

She writes in a frank and open manner, describing her missteps as openly as her triumphs. I can feel her empathy with the animals, cheered with her when she achieved success, and shed tears at the heartbreaking events that befell some of her favorite animals. While I was interested most in her work with elephants, Sheldrick had room in her life for a wide variety of orphaned animals – rhinos, antelope, mongoose, and a mischievous zebra, among others.

Virginia McKenna does a marvelous job voicing the audio book. She has great pacing and really brought Sheldrick’s voice and point of view to life.
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LibraryThing member carolfoisset
Fascinating book - what a life she led! I will be donating to her foundation.
LibraryThing member rapini
Sheldrick paints a vivid picture of life in Kenya for the settler community during the twentieth century. Her descriptions of the land, the animals, and the establishment of Tsavo National Reserve and orphan rescue is fascinating, but I struggled with her lack of acknowledgement of non-white
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figures in this narrative. They are rarely mentioned by name and most that are are enemy poaches or politicians. Do not misunderstand me: I enjoyed this book a lot, but I feel like there is more to the story.
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LibraryThing member Stanslong
One of the best, not least because of its passion.
LibraryThing member Katyefk
Great, true story. Loved the elephants we saw on safari and this book added to my understanding and awareness.
LibraryThing member tinkerbellkk
I loved this book and read it leading up to a visit to Nairobi and the David Sheldrick orphanage. Daphne Sheldrick had an incredible life and the work she and her family accomplished is pretty incredible. I thought the recounting of how they lived their lives and the many wild animals that they
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raised fascinating. The storytelling is a bit jumpy at times but this just seems like an authentic portrayal of their lives. Seeing the work being done in the elephant orphanage really brought to light how important elephant conservation really is. They continue to fight an uphill battle for these wonderful animals and for that, I am truly grateful. The pictures included in the book were also lovely. A great read!
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

352 p.; 6.25 inches

ISBN

0374104573 / 9780374104573
Page: 0.6345 seconds