West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In her varied career before becoming a novelist, the author was a freelance journalist, copywriter, film reviewer, book collaborator and travel writer while also earning an MA in American literature and an MFA in creative writing. And, of course, she’s a lifelong animal lover.
I liked West with Giraffes – it grew on me, as they say, reading thru the exploits of the three main human characters and the two animal characters on their long, arduous journey to San Diego Zoo. It must have been uplifting at that time in the thirties to receive such good news against the backdrop of rampant unemployment, the dust bowl depression and the coming menace of Hitler along with his Axis Allies (Italy and Japan).
I like the author’s style – she’s easy to understand, her story is tinged with subtle humor and she has an amazing feel for the two giraffes as she describes their eating habits, their affection for each other and their love of poking their heads thru the truck’s roof. Their tranquility throughout the story despite all the difficulties they faced was remarkable. I remember feeding a giraffe at Niabi zoo in Illinois some years ago – I was surprised when its huge blue tongue emerged and it gently ate the lettuce from my hand!
The only critical comment I’d make about the book is the limited character development in the novel – the Old Man was a crusty, good hearted fellow all the way thru, Red was an enigma most of the time but Woody Nickel did grow more confident as the story evolved.
A final note - One of the best examples of the author’s feel for the two animals happens towards the end when Woody writes-
“Then, like Red, I stretched out my arms, until I was touching them both . . . and, at my touch, the two blessed giraffes begin to hum! They had been humming to each other back in quarantine, and now they were humming with me.”

This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series




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West With Giraffes