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The Memory of an Elephant
“The Memory of an Elephant" is an epic saga told by an aging African elephant as he makes a last, perilous journey to find the humans who rescued him as an orphan some fifty years ago. Interwoven with his narrative are the tumultuous lives of the family who raised and then lost him: a famed hunting guide and his wife, who runs an animal orphanage (a conflict that in time upends their marriage); their son and daughter; and the young Kikuyu who finds the orphaned elephant and becomes part of the Hathaway family. This timeless story is alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking, spanning east Africa, Great Britain and New York from 1962 to 2015.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 705 reviews
February 22, 2022
The Memory of an Elephant is the highly emotional story of Ishi, a Bull Elephant coming to the end of his life, who decides to travel back to the plains of his birth in Kenya before he dies. I read most of it with a giant lump in my throat and defy anyone not to be moved by the story of this supremely intelligent majestic creature.
Told in a mixture of first elephant and third person narration, jumping back and forth from the 2012 present, to his birth in 1962, we learn how Ishi comes to lose his first clan, and be raised in an animal orphanage by Jean, the wife of white big game hunter Russell Hathaway, and a young Kikuyu boy destined to be his friend and guardian for life, Kamau. Once he’s old enough to leave, Ishi finds himself a new clan, beginning a life of adventures that will take him far away, from happiness and freedom amongst his own kind, but perpetually at risk from evil two-legged poachers and their “boomsticks”, to the misery of safety in the cold of the North, and how a lucky intervention gets him back home again. He never forgets his human family, and despite their own tragedies, Kamau and the Hathaways will be there again as he undertakes his greatest adventure.
This is a beautifully told epic story that brings the beauty and wild cruelty of Africa vividly to life. Unfortunately it also inevitably reminds us how humans don’t deserve this planet. From the callous game warden whose preferred solution to the problem of a rogue elephant on the move is a rifle, to the psychopathic poacher interested only in enriching himself by selling ivory, Ishi learns early that not all two-legs can be trusted - but that not all elephants are good and kind either. There’s a horrific scene early on that we know must be coming, but is nevertheless devastating, and Ishi’s confusion and anguish had me in tears. There are however sympathetic human characters as well who balance things out so it never becomes too depressing. Unfortunately animal stories always end sadly, but one’s this was bittersweet and necessary.
I read a free advance copy through the Reedsy Discovery programme to provide an honest review.
Told in a mixture of first elephant and third person narration, jumping back and forth from the 2012 present, to his birth in 1962, we learn how Ishi comes to lose his first clan, and be raised in an animal orphanage by Jean, the wife of white big game hunter Russell Hathaway, and a young Kikuyu boy destined to be his friend and guardian for life, Kamau. Once he’s old enough to leave, Ishi finds himself a new clan, beginning a life of adventures that will take him far away, from happiness and freedom amongst his own kind, but perpetually at risk from evil two-legged poachers and their “boomsticks”, to the misery of safety in the cold of the North, and how a lucky intervention gets him back home again. He never forgets his human family, and despite their own tragedies, Kamau and the Hathaways will be there again as he undertakes his greatest adventure.
This is a beautifully told epic story that brings the beauty and wild cruelty of Africa vividly to life. Unfortunately it also inevitably reminds us how humans don’t deserve this planet. From the callous game warden whose preferred solution to the problem of a rogue elephant on the move is a rifle, to the psychopathic poacher interested only in enriching himself by selling ivory, Ishi learns early that not all two-legs can be trusted - but that not all elephants are good and kind either. There’s a horrific scene early on that we know must be coming, but is nevertheless devastating, and Ishi’s confusion and anguish had me in tears. There are however sympathetic human characters as well who balance things out so it never becomes too depressing. Unfortunately animal stories always end sadly, but one’s this was bittersweet and necessary.
I read a free advance copy through the Reedsy Discovery programme to provide an honest review.
February 8, 2022
I will never forget
A must read for all animal lovers, Especially those who adore elephants. I feel as though I have waited for this story most of my adult life. It feels as though something deep inside of me has been rekindled. It comes to me at this final quarter of my own life. This book might well be the most significant book I have ever read.
A must read for all animal lovers, Especially those who adore elephants. I feel as though I have waited for this story most of my adult life. It feels as though something deep inside of me has been rekindled. It comes to me at this final quarter of my own life. This book might well be the most significant book I have ever read.
February 27, 2022
Stunning. Extraordinary. Profound. This book made me look at the world differently. It wrecked me emotionally, and the ending left me crying tears of both grief and joy. I really hope this perfect little gem finds more readers and gains more recognition. It's brilliant.
April 1, 2022
Heart warming and heart breaking in the same breath.
January 28, 2023
What. A. Story.
I have never finished a book ugly crying before.
I have never finished a book ugly crying before.
June 30, 2025
It begins when a surgeon on his way to an early operation is driving in torrential rain, so he is going significantly below the speed limit. He’s startled by a looming shape in the darkness and manages to stop his vehicle without hitting the shape or the median. Only when he is fully stopped does he realize that he is looking at the largest elephant he has ever seen. And the elephant is looking right back at him. After a few heart-stopping moments, the bull walks over the median divider and disappears into the rain. What was an elephant doing on the highway? There are no national parks or zoos in the vicinity.
This is an unusual “memoir” … an elderly bull elephant recounts his life as he treks across the African continent, intent on returning to his birthplace. The story goes back and forth in time, from Ishi’s recollections to his current-day trek across the continent.
What a marvelous book! Ishi (the elephant) is a remarkable narrator. Of course, he doesn’t always understand the ways of the two-leggers, with their boom sticks and mechanical birds (rifles and helicopters), but he has a long memory and remembers both those who have been kind to him and those who have harmed him or his family.
Lasker gives the reader a visceral experience by using Ishi’s voice to tell this tale. There are chapters that deal with the significant humans in Ishi’s life, from the Hathaway family (who operate an “orphan farm” in Kenya), to Kamau (the young tribal boy who first found and befriended the baby Ishi), to Gichinga (a sociopath and poacher).
One of my book-club buddies recommended this book for us. We all loved it!
This is an unusual “memoir” … an elderly bull elephant recounts his life as he treks across the African continent, intent on returning to his birthplace. The story goes back and forth in time, from Ishi’s recollections to his current-day trek across the continent.
What a marvelous book! Ishi (the elephant) is a remarkable narrator. Of course, he doesn’t always understand the ways of the two-leggers, with their boom sticks and mechanical birds (rifles and helicopters), but he has a long memory and remembers both those who have been kind to him and those who have harmed him or his family.
Lasker gives the reader a visceral experience by using Ishi’s voice to tell this tale. There are chapters that deal with the significant humans in Ishi’s life, from the Hathaway family (who operate an “orphan farm” in Kenya), to Kamau (the young tribal boy who first found and befriended the baby Ishi), to Gichinga (a sociopath and poacher).
One of my book-club buddies recommended this book for us. We all loved it!
September 26, 2022
Reading this book in conjunction with the downturn in health of my beloved dog companion led to obvious parallels as regards final journeys towards destined outcomes. It’s a touching story as various locations, characters and perspectives play a role in the life of bull elephant Ishi.
“Human nature never really changes. At least, not for long.”
“The world we travel in is circumscribed by theirs, I realised that long ago. They are the rulers of this Earth, there are too many of them and the rest of us are at their mercy.”
“Human nature never really changes. At least, not for long.”
“The world we travel in is circumscribed by theirs, I realised that long ago. They are the rulers of this Earth, there are too many of them and the rest of us are at their mercy.”
May 15, 2022
This is the most touching book I have read in a long time. I shed tears so many times while reading this book. It was heartbreaking to learn of the mistreatment so many elephants encountered with humans, and heartwarming to learn of the strength and love these magnificent animals get from each other. I'm not a fast reader, but I couldn't put this book down and finished it in two days. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves animals. I learned about this book when I did a search on Amazon for adult books about animals. The description was intriguing, so I searched my local library for the electronic version I could read on my Kindle, but they didn't have it. I ended up buying the Kindle version from Amazon for only $3.99. It was the best $3.99 I've ever spent!
August 2, 2021
"The Memory of an Elephant" tells the story of the elephant Ishi: the slaughter of his family at the hands of poachers, as depicted in a vivid early scene; his rescue by a British family who operates a Kenyan animal orphanage; his return to the wild; his transportation to an English zoo; and his eventual return to Africa where he seeks, at great risk, to return to the place of his birth.
Ishi's own first-person perceptions begin the novel. An Amazon reviewer more accurately called this voice "first-Elephant". Author Alex Lasker, in his curiosity and empathy, searches for the voice and language elephants might deploy for the rich and intelligent communication we know they share. Lasker uses both science (sensing vibrations through the soles of their feet) and conjecture (their taxonomical schemes, their observations about Nature, even about Humanity) to construct Ishi's internal monologue — reflecting on his present-day actions, his desires, and his memories.
Lasker's other tool is to alternate Ishi's "I" perspective with a broader, omniscient third-person narrative voice. From this proximity Lasker further depicts scenes of the brutality and joy in Ishi's life; and with this voice he builds the framework within which Ishi's voyage takes place — the world between 1962 and 2012. In sweeping sequences reminiscent of the generational sagas of Garcia-Marquez or Irving, we are introduced to the scattering and unfurling lives of the humans who surround Ishi, both his protectors and his tormenters. As we follow characters around Kenya, to London, to New York, and back again, Lasker seems to be showing us that these humans' individual emotional experiences — their joys and griefs — are no more or less valid than Ishi's.
Even if you already stand in awe and respect of the noble and innocent creatures we are are systematically, savagely erasing from the Earth, Alex Lasker's book, with its generosity of imagination and its spirit of empathy, will re-focus the elephant in your heart.
Ishi's own first-person perceptions begin the novel. An Amazon reviewer more accurately called this voice "first-Elephant". Author Alex Lasker, in his curiosity and empathy, searches for the voice and language elephants might deploy for the rich and intelligent communication we know they share. Lasker uses both science (sensing vibrations through the soles of their feet) and conjecture (their taxonomical schemes, their observations about Nature, even about Humanity) to construct Ishi's internal monologue — reflecting on his present-day actions, his desires, and his memories.
Lasker's other tool is to alternate Ishi's "I" perspective with a broader, omniscient third-person narrative voice. From this proximity Lasker further depicts scenes of the brutality and joy in Ishi's life; and with this voice he builds the framework within which Ishi's voyage takes place — the world between 1962 and 2012. In sweeping sequences reminiscent of the generational sagas of Garcia-Marquez or Irving, we are introduced to the scattering and unfurling lives of the humans who surround Ishi, both his protectors and his tormenters. As we follow characters around Kenya, to London, to New York, and back again, Lasker seems to be showing us that these humans' individual emotional experiences — their joys and griefs — are no more or less valid than Ishi's.
Even if you already stand in awe and respect of the noble and innocent creatures we are are systematically, savagely erasing from the Earth, Alex Lasker's book, with its generosity of imagination and its spirit of empathy, will re-focus the elephant in your heart.
January 29, 2023
Book Club Selection - January 2023
Wow, what a great epic story. Moving. Poignant. I loved the way Ishi and all the elephants were portrayed, so intelligent and sensitive. I also enjoyed following the story of the Hathaway Family, as painful as it was, as well as Kamau’s life over the years.
But this story was about more than that, it also described the changing times, in Africa and around the world, from the 1960’s into the new millennium. It shines a light on the poaching and the ivory trade. It also explores the lives of Europeans living in Africa during those times, boarding schools, etc. Lots of important topics covered. Very well written, and I highly recommend it.
Wow, what a great epic story. Moving. Poignant. I loved the way Ishi and all the elephants were portrayed, so intelligent and sensitive. I also enjoyed following the story of the Hathaway Family, as painful as it was, as well as Kamau’s life over the years.
But this story was about more than that, it also described the changing times, in Africa and around the world, from the 1960’s into the new millennium. It shines a light on the poaching and the ivory trade. It also explores the lives of Europeans living in Africa during those times, boarding schools, etc. Lots of important topics covered. Very well written, and I highly recommend it.
August 7, 2025
The Memory of an Elephant is an epic saga told by an aging African elephant as he makes a last, perilous journey to find the humans who rescued him as an orphan some fifty years ago. Interwoven with his narrative are the tumultuous lives of the family who raised and then lost him. This timeless story is alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking, spanning east Africa, Great Britain and New York from 1962 to 2015.
This book will stay with me- I want everyone I know to read it. I’m already thinking of all the people I will pass my copy along to.
This came as a recommendation from several family members.
I was crying by page 14 and sobbed at the ending.
This is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read.
This story follows the life of an elephant named Ishi and all that he experiences throughout his life.
This is more than just a story - there is so much meaning & emotion. This book serves as a reminder that life passes by so fast.
I hope more people find this book.
This book will stay with me- I want everyone I know to read it. I’m already thinking of all the people I will pass my copy along to.
This came as a recommendation from several family members.
I was crying by page 14 and sobbed at the ending.
This is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read.
This story follows the life of an elephant named Ishi and all that he experiences throughout his life.
This is more than just a story - there is so much meaning & emotion. This book serves as a reminder that life passes by so fast.
I hope more people find this book.
January 17, 2022
I usually shutter to read novels that cover such a wide time span as history isn’t my strongest interest. That said, The Memory of an Elephant requires us to live out Ishi’s memories and learn of who he is as a dominant male in the animal kingdom.
As the story unfolds we learn of his early heartbreak, that love can cure a broken heart, and that there is no peace in the daily life of such a peaceful and beautiful animal. It’s unnerving that Ishi must always be on the look out for a fight or flight and I cheer for those rare day when he can just be, undisturbed by boom sticks and false birds. Man hunting him down for his tusks. As the saying goes, and I believe, the only one who needs an elephant’s tusk is the elephant. Alex Lester does a great job of incorporating the reality of the tusk black market without completely and utterly breaking our spirit so we can read on.
Lester flushes out the lives of the main characters across the time span without bogging us down in unnecessary details. It is in the human lives and Ishi’s transitioning over time that this story fully captures the reader. Because this novel reminds us that man’s cruelty extends beyond humans and into the pristine animal kingdom, I am reminded why I give to organizations to protect these magnificent and sentient creatures.
As the story unfolds we learn of his early heartbreak, that love can cure a broken heart, and that there is no peace in the daily life of such a peaceful and beautiful animal. It’s unnerving that Ishi must always be on the look out for a fight or flight and I cheer for those rare day when he can just be, undisturbed by boom sticks and false birds. Man hunting him down for his tusks. As the saying goes, and I believe, the only one who needs an elephant’s tusk is the elephant. Alex Lester does a great job of incorporating the reality of the tusk black market without completely and utterly breaking our spirit so we can read on.
Lester flushes out the lives of the main characters across the time span without bogging us down in unnecessary details. It is in the human lives and Ishi’s transitioning over time that this story fully captures the reader. Because this novel reminds us that man’s cruelty extends beyond humans and into the pristine animal kingdom, I am reminded why I give to organizations to protect these magnificent and sentient creatures.
March 22, 2025
This book unexpectedly grabbed my heart! I had not heard of this book until it was on our book club list. The book follows the life of an elephant and all the "two-leggers" and other elephants and animals he meets along his life journey. Elephants are SO smart. If you love elephants or liked the book Remarkably Bright Creatures, I think you will love this book.
February 12, 2026
I devoured this book in less than 24 hours (it is also a shorter read). As soon as I finished I thought it was worthy of 5 stars. After I sat with it for a few days I decided maybe 4+ but not quite 5. I loved the overall story but was not a big fan of all the side characters getting too much story time with no true purpose. I wanted the elephant to shine more as his parts were the most moving. Overall, a book that was outside of my usual reading type but I am very glad I read it. It made me more aware of poaching and the depth and intelligence of animals. Parts of it made me also hate the “two leggers”! I would definitely recommend.
January 13, 2022
Read With Two Boxes Of Tissues Nearby
Magnificent. The intertwining stories of multiple lives as they connect and reconnect with an elderly elephant come together in an anthem of life; Its common desires and needs, regardless of species and the mysteries that might lay beyond the realm of existence as we know it. Thought-provoking and emotional.
One of the best I’ve read in years.
Magnificent. The intertwining stories of multiple lives as they connect and reconnect with an elderly elephant come together in an anthem of life; Its common desires and needs, regardless of species and the mysteries that might lay beyond the realm of existence as we know it. Thought-provoking and emotional.
One of the best I’ve read in years.
October 31, 2021
This book is one of the best I have read. It is about an elephant, his mom is killed and he is brought to a camp where Jean and Russell, help baby animals. The elephant who they name Ishi, tells the story of his life. GREAT BOOK
April 20, 2022
If I die before I read another book, I’ll be grateful I read The Memory of an Elephant. It tore my heart out and replaced it with something better. It was an immersion I’ll never forget. The amazing story of Ishi. Don’t miss it!
October 6, 2025
This story is told from many perspectives. Parts are told by the elephant and parts are told by the people (two legged’s) that are in his life. The time spans 50 years from the initial incident resulting in an orphaned elephant to the final days of his life, and all of the complex decisions that are made by humans throughout those years. I listened to the audiobook and would not put this narrator on my list of favorites.
February 22, 2022
I loved the Book, because I loved the protagonist, Ishi, the elephant, from calf to old bull. The author's style is not unlike Somerset Maugham (plus a lot of cinematic drama, Lasker being a screen writer). All of the people's lives impacted by the elephant are reoccurring until the end of the book. Everything is covered: ivory peaching, sport hunting, herd slaughter, orphanage for orphaned animals, capture and transporting zoological specimens, game sanctuaries and returning domesticate animals to the wild. This is all seen through the eyes and thoughts of Ishi (from the Swahili word kuishi 'to live'). The low pitched rumbling discussions between elephants is imaginative, but research continues to indicate that elephants are sentient and have richly social lives. The story line, while quixotically optimistic, holds the readers attention and emotions to the end.
August 6, 2022
A stunning story, told by an aging African elephant, Ishi, as he makes a long and arduous trek home to find the humans that rescued him fifty years earlier.
A beautifully written story that spans years and continents, connecting family and enemies, both human and animal, in this beautiful journey. To be sure, it is not easy, nor is it always beautiful, the vivid descriptions of the poachers is almost too much to bear, but so important to the story. Thankfully the tender, heartwarming moments ease the grief that I experienced along with Ishi, whose wise narrative guides the reader as expertly as he navigates the African plains to his home.
This is a profoundly moving book, often I was in tears, and often I was in awe. The elephant is a magnificent animal, and this book reminds us that with each and every page.
A beautifully written story that spans years and continents, connecting family and enemies, both human and animal, in this beautiful journey. To be sure, it is not easy, nor is it always beautiful, the vivid descriptions of the poachers is almost too much to bear, but so important to the story. Thankfully the tender, heartwarming moments ease the grief that I experienced along with Ishi, whose wise narrative guides the reader as expertly as he navigates the African plains to his home.
This is a profoundly moving book, often I was in tears, and often I was in awe. The elephant is a magnificent animal, and this book reminds us that with each and every page.
March 30, 2022
Beautiful!! I loved it. I felt like I was in the Kenya landscape. Had a good balance of description and dialogue. I had to request my library to purchase and they happily agreed 📚
The story is told by an elephant named Ishi from his infancy to his old age. Interwoven with the perspective of two-legger (human) friends and enemies.
The story is told by an elephant named Ishi from his infancy to his old age. Interwoven with the perspective of two-legger (human) friends and enemies.
February 28, 2022
The Memory of an Elephant is about the life of Ishi a bull elephant. Its about the people in his life both good and bad, also the other elephants he meets. Ishi tells of his life time of stories which are both amazing and heartbreaking. This is a very emotional book, you will cry.
July 7, 2022
Good story by itself…..
The story idea is great. The writing is not so great. It is very sketchy and superficial in many places.
The story idea is great. The writing is not so great. It is very sketchy and superficial in many places.
January 22, 2023
Wow. Just wow. There really isn't anything else to say.
July 18, 2022
“The memory of an elephant” is a riveting novel that reinforces the old saying that “an elephant never forgets” by presenting the memories of a 59 year old elephant as he travels to his birthplace.
I will admit that I was unaware of this novel until several women at the library I work at started requesting this book for their book club. Although I don’t normally pick a book based on high request numbers, I was immediately drawn to the book due to its cover.
The novel consists of a prologue, twenty-seven chapters, and an epilogue. The timeframe in which the novel occurs is from 1962-present day and while the majority of the novel occurs in Africa, parts of the novel also occurs in London, Manhattan and Switzerland.
The novel begins with prologue in which a doctor in Zambia is driving on a rainy early morning and swerves to miss an elephant crossing the highway. Doctor wonders how the elephant got to the highway without being noticed and reports the elephant sighting to the authorities.
The elephant narrator is introduced to the reader through the use of italicized text. Despite not knowing the exact direction of its birthplace, the elephant strongly believes senses will tell him where to go.
In the first chapter the elephant recounts its first hours of life and having to walk immediately after birth or risk being eaten by predators. Fascinating that despite large elephant clan members, narrator knew each one by their unique scent. Learns early the importance of staying with the herd and experiences the horror of seeing his friend killed as his herd stood and watched. After matriarch Red Eye dies, there is a struggle between narrator’s mother Moon Mother and another female, She Storms.After an almost death occurs, a matriarch is chosen.
In chapter two, it’s 1964 and the author is transparent in showing the violence inflicted to animals by poachers as they kill elephants and taking their tusks for money. It's in this chapeter that the reader is introduced to fourteen year old Kamau Matiba of the Kikuyu tribe sleeping in the African bush for four days as part of an ancient manhood rite. Although he Kamau is following his tribe’s ritual, he eventually plans to leave the village life behind. Kamau hears gunshots and after they stop, he discovers massacred elephants with one still alive. The lone elephant survivor realizes Kamau is there to help.
The elephant is transported to the farm is care for by the Hathaway family and other farm staff.Russell makes Kamau are offer to stay on and work at the farm and in exchange, they’ll take care of his schooling. Kamau says he’ll think about the offer then Russell leaves for a safari job.Jean nurses elephant through fever and delirium.
The night before Russell returned to the farm, Kamau realizes the identity of the lead poacher responsible for killing the elephant’s family as Gichinga Kimathi, a man banished from his village when Kamau was a young boy. Kamau named the elephant Anaishi which means he lives or he remains. Russell and Kamau agree to call Anaishi "Ishi" as a nickname.
The novel soon moves to present day, with Trevor Blackman from wilidlife conservation who is tasked with finding Ishi. Ishi is perceptive and aware of false birds (drone) meant to find him. Although Ishi manages to evade Blackman, he gets injured in the process.
In past story, three year old Ishi leaves the farm and tags along with another passing elephant herd lead by matriarch Mother Blue. Kamau realizes that Ishi is missing Jean is happy Ishi is strong enough to leave but has Kamau and Kagwe go with her to make sure he’s okay with new clan.
Although Jean wants to continue to check on Ishi’s progress with the new clan, an accident involving her son Terrence at his boarding school takes top priority so she leaves to London. The accident leads her to reconsider sending her children off to boarding school (British for boys and Swiss for girls.) Jen thinks of the irony that she is raising orphan animals while Russell is the most sought after hunter in Africa. Terence tells Jean what caused accident and Jean makes the brave choice to advocate on Terence’s behalf with success.
Young Ishi is adjusting to clan life until a animal attack leads him to return to farm. Upon Ishi’s return, Kamau finds his life’s mission. During Amanda time in boarding school, she finds friendship and her calling as a journalist first for her school’s newspaper writing on control conditions of immigrant workers which leads to a journalism career and worldly travels.
Kamau goes to university to study veterinary medicine while Terence finds work as a photographer’s assistant with plan to go to college and major in design.
In present day New York-Rich New Yorker Werner Brandeis owns the Zambia preserve where an elephant has escaped from and he is frantic to get elephant back before something bad happens. Jeremy Westbrook, operator of the preserve doesn’t understand why the elephant has escaped or where he’s going.
In the past, Ishi grows and at age ten, finds himself joining a herd of male elephants lead by an old elephant named Big Black. Ishi wants to reunite with Mother Blue clan but other male elephants berate him, saying that he’ll be cast out soon for growing too old.
In the present day, Brandeis decides to use Ishi’s trek to bait the media and they take the bait. Westbrook’s staff do background research to determine if the elephant is the same one raised by Jean fifty years ago. Russell now 87 year old landscape painting living in London, Amanda, now 63 years old and divorced noted journalist/author living in England, Terence passed away years ago.Brandeis decides to fly surviving family members down to Kenya to greet Ishi
In 1974, while a junior in college, Amanda meets the man who will eventually lead to her leaving the United States. Five years older than her, Ariel Levine introduces her to drugs and shares her vegetarian diet and her love of fighting for animal rights. Ariel co-founded pre-PETA animal rights group and Amanda soon becomes an active member of the group. Years later, Amanda realizes that she had transitioned from Ariel’s lover to a follower of his group. Ariel convinces Amanda to help liberate animals from a lab but when the plan goes awry, Amanda sees Ariel’s true self. Amanda makes a deal and as a result, is deported from United States.
Kamau in preparing to graduate and work in the wildlife service. During his time at university, finds love with a Kikuyu girl named Makena and gets engaged.Kamau is heartbroken when he hears that Ishi has gone missing due to their strong bond.Kamau makes it his mission to find Ishi before he returns to university.
Three years have passed and Ishi stays with Big Black until the leader dies then fights for who will lead the clan. In the end, Ishi becomes leader of a clan of four male elephants but decides to share leadership responsibilities which creates a tight bond with his clan mates. Ishi becomes the father of many calves and eventually reunites with Mother Blue and other adopted family members. As clan leader, Ishi experiences the loss of a dear friend due to humans with guns.Russell and Ishi reunite. Despite their reunion, Russell decides to keep Ishi’s status hidden from his family.
As the years pass, former animal poacher Gichinga uses shady maneuvers in order to transition from poacher to debt collector to head of the Collections Dept.
I will admit that I actually gasped with shock when I discovered that Ishi had been sent from Africa as a further way to reaffirm to Hathaway family that Ishi is dead. Meanwhile, Terence has become a bassist in a punk band but unfortunately dies due to an overdose.
The loss of Terence’s life leads to Jean and Russell divorcing and devoting self to caring for orphaned animals. Amanda finds work as an investigative journalism.Amanda eventually gets married and becomes a mother of twin girls. Happy for a while then marriage ends due to his cheating on her.
Russell goes on a hunting safari and ends up with disastrous results. Kamau’s life goes well as he reaches the top position in the Ministry of Wildlife and enjoys working with animals as well as repairing damage done by Kenyatta poaching regime.Kamau refuses to believe the Ishi is dead and won’t stop hoping to reunite with him one day.
Ishi’s life in the zoo is sad as well as the stories told by other elephants of mistreatment in circuses as well as working carrying logs in the jungle.
When Jean is diagnosed with brain cancer and choses to share this news only with Kamau and Makena. Russell and Amanda are unaware of Jean’s prognosis or her declining health. Amanda plans to move back to care for mother but Jean tells her to return home while Russell decides to sublet his apartment and moves back to the farm to care for ex-wife. As Jean prepares to die, Russell tells Jean’s Ishi fate. Despite Ishi being five thousand miles away, he feels a unknown change but is unsure why.
After Jean passes, Kamau decides to leave government work and is elated when Russell and Amanda ask him to take over running the orphanage.
Russell returns to England, gets into a relationship, and resumes his first love of painting. Visits Ishi once a year and eventually he soon becomes inseparable from other elephant Tatiana. Zoo staff is surprised when Tatiana has a calf. Tragedy occurs with the calf and the family is separated.Amanda learns of her father’s betrayal from years ago and determines to make things right for Ishi. Ishi gets returned to Africa and finds kindness through a new clan. Amanda finally returns to United States and she reunites with a source of deportment.
Ishi finally gets revenge on Gichinga for slaughter of his family.Amanda and Kamau reconnect then reconnect with Ishi. Ishi arrive back at Salisbury and elephant come to say goodbye.
This was a touching novel that shows that animals are not only sentient but are also capable of feeling and expressing feelings and emotions. To me, the reader can’t help but be affected by the emotional depth and intelligence of elephants. As Ishi realizes his life is coming to a close, he leaves to die and Kamau bids him final farewell. The novel ends with Kamau, Russell and Amanda finding their lives forever changed by Ishi in their lives.
I will admit that I was unaware of this novel until several women at the library I work at started requesting this book for their book club. Although I don’t normally pick a book based on high request numbers, I was immediately drawn to the book due to its cover.
The novel consists of a prologue, twenty-seven chapters, and an epilogue. The timeframe in which the novel occurs is from 1962-present day and while the majority of the novel occurs in Africa, parts of the novel also occurs in London, Manhattan and Switzerland.
The novel begins with prologue in which a doctor in Zambia is driving on a rainy early morning and swerves to miss an elephant crossing the highway. Doctor wonders how the elephant got to the highway without being noticed and reports the elephant sighting to the authorities.
The elephant narrator is introduced to the reader through the use of italicized text. Despite not knowing the exact direction of its birthplace, the elephant strongly believes senses will tell him where to go.
In the first chapter the elephant recounts its first hours of life and having to walk immediately after birth or risk being eaten by predators. Fascinating that despite large elephant clan members, narrator knew each one by their unique scent. Learns early the importance of staying with the herd and experiences the horror of seeing his friend killed as his herd stood and watched. After matriarch Red Eye dies, there is a struggle between narrator’s mother Moon Mother and another female, She Storms.After an almost death occurs, a matriarch is chosen.
In chapter two, it’s 1964 and the author is transparent in showing the violence inflicted to animals by poachers as they kill elephants and taking their tusks for money. It's in this chapeter that the reader is introduced to fourteen year old Kamau Matiba of the Kikuyu tribe sleeping in the African bush for four days as part of an ancient manhood rite. Although he Kamau is following his tribe’s ritual, he eventually plans to leave the village life behind. Kamau hears gunshots and after they stop, he discovers massacred elephants with one still alive. The lone elephant survivor realizes Kamau is there to help.
The elephant is transported to the farm is care for by the Hathaway family and other farm staff.Russell makes Kamau are offer to stay on and work at the farm and in exchange, they’ll take care of his schooling. Kamau says he’ll think about the offer then Russell leaves for a safari job.Jean nurses elephant through fever and delirium.
The night before Russell returned to the farm, Kamau realizes the identity of the lead poacher responsible for killing the elephant’s family as Gichinga Kimathi, a man banished from his village when Kamau was a young boy. Kamau named the elephant Anaishi which means he lives or he remains. Russell and Kamau agree to call Anaishi "Ishi" as a nickname.
The novel soon moves to present day, with Trevor Blackman from wilidlife conservation who is tasked with finding Ishi. Ishi is perceptive and aware of false birds (drone) meant to find him. Although Ishi manages to evade Blackman, he gets injured in the process.
In past story, three year old Ishi leaves the farm and tags along with another passing elephant herd lead by matriarch Mother Blue. Kamau realizes that Ishi is missing Jean is happy Ishi is strong enough to leave but has Kamau and Kagwe go with her to make sure he’s okay with new clan.
Although Jean wants to continue to check on Ishi’s progress with the new clan, an accident involving her son Terrence at his boarding school takes top priority so she leaves to London. The accident leads her to reconsider sending her children off to boarding school (British for boys and Swiss for girls.) Jen thinks of the irony that she is raising orphan animals while Russell is the most sought after hunter in Africa. Terence tells Jean what caused accident and Jean makes the brave choice to advocate on Terence’s behalf with success.
Young Ishi is adjusting to clan life until a animal attack leads him to return to farm. Upon Ishi’s return, Kamau finds his life’s mission. During Amanda time in boarding school, she finds friendship and her calling as a journalist first for her school’s newspaper writing on control conditions of immigrant workers which leads to a journalism career and worldly travels.
Kamau goes to university to study veterinary medicine while Terence finds work as a photographer’s assistant with plan to go to college and major in design.
In present day New York-Rich New Yorker Werner Brandeis owns the Zambia preserve where an elephant has escaped from and he is frantic to get elephant back before something bad happens. Jeremy Westbrook, operator of the preserve doesn’t understand why the elephant has escaped or where he’s going.
In the past, Ishi grows and at age ten, finds himself joining a herd of male elephants lead by an old elephant named Big Black. Ishi wants to reunite with Mother Blue clan but other male elephants berate him, saying that he’ll be cast out soon for growing too old.
In the present day, Brandeis decides to use Ishi’s trek to bait the media and they take the bait. Westbrook’s staff do background research to determine if the elephant is the same one raised by Jean fifty years ago. Russell now 87 year old landscape painting living in London, Amanda, now 63 years old and divorced noted journalist/author living in England, Terence passed away years ago.Brandeis decides to fly surviving family members down to Kenya to greet Ishi
In 1974, while a junior in college, Amanda meets the man who will eventually lead to her leaving the United States. Five years older than her, Ariel Levine introduces her to drugs and shares her vegetarian diet and her love of fighting for animal rights. Ariel co-founded pre-PETA animal rights group and Amanda soon becomes an active member of the group. Years later, Amanda realizes that she had transitioned from Ariel’s lover to a follower of his group. Ariel convinces Amanda to help liberate animals from a lab but when the plan goes awry, Amanda sees Ariel’s true self. Amanda makes a deal and as a result, is deported from United States.
Kamau in preparing to graduate and work in the wildlife service. During his time at university, finds love with a Kikuyu girl named Makena and gets engaged.Kamau is heartbroken when he hears that Ishi has gone missing due to their strong bond.Kamau makes it his mission to find Ishi before he returns to university.
Three years have passed and Ishi stays with Big Black until the leader dies then fights for who will lead the clan. In the end, Ishi becomes leader of a clan of four male elephants but decides to share leadership responsibilities which creates a tight bond with his clan mates. Ishi becomes the father of many calves and eventually reunites with Mother Blue and other adopted family members. As clan leader, Ishi experiences the loss of a dear friend due to humans with guns.Russell and Ishi reunite. Despite their reunion, Russell decides to keep Ishi’s status hidden from his family.
As the years pass, former animal poacher Gichinga uses shady maneuvers in order to transition from poacher to debt collector to head of the Collections Dept.
I will admit that I actually gasped with shock when I discovered that Ishi had been sent from Africa as a further way to reaffirm to Hathaway family that Ishi is dead. Meanwhile, Terence has become a bassist in a punk band but unfortunately dies due to an overdose.
The loss of Terence’s life leads to Jean and Russell divorcing and devoting self to caring for orphaned animals. Amanda finds work as an investigative journalism.Amanda eventually gets married and becomes a mother of twin girls. Happy for a while then marriage ends due to his cheating on her.
Russell goes on a hunting safari and ends up with disastrous results. Kamau’s life goes well as he reaches the top position in the Ministry of Wildlife and enjoys working with animals as well as repairing damage done by Kenyatta poaching regime.Kamau refuses to believe the Ishi is dead and won’t stop hoping to reunite with him one day.
Ishi’s life in the zoo is sad as well as the stories told by other elephants of mistreatment in circuses as well as working carrying logs in the jungle.
When Jean is diagnosed with brain cancer and choses to share this news only with Kamau and Makena. Russell and Amanda are unaware of Jean’s prognosis or her declining health. Amanda plans to move back to care for mother but Jean tells her to return home while Russell decides to sublet his apartment and moves back to the farm to care for ex-wife. As Jean prepares to die, Russell tells Jean’s Ishi fate. Despite Ishi being five thousand miles away, he feels a unknown change but is unsure why.
After Jean passes, Kamau decides to leave government work and is elated when Russell and Amanda ask him to take over running the orphanage.
Russell returns to England, gets into a relationship, and resumes his first love of painting. Visits Ishi once a year and eventually he soon becomes inseparable from other elephant Tatiana. Zoo staff is surprised when Tatiana has a calf. Tragedy occurs with the calf and the family is separated.Amanda learns of her father’s betrayal from years ago and determines to make things right for Ishi. Ishi gets returned to Africa and finds kindness through a new clan. Amanda finally returns to United States and she reunites with a source of deportment.
Ishi finally gets revenge on Gichinga for slaughter of his family.Amanda and Kamau reconnect then reconnect with Ishi. Ishi arrive back at Salisbury and elephant come to say goodbye.
This was a touching novel that shows that animals are not only sentient but are also capable of feeling and expressing feelings and emotions. To me, the reader can’t help but be affected by the emotional depth and intelligence of elephants. As Ishi realizes his life is coming to a close, he leaves to die and Kamau bids him final farewell. The novel ends with Kamau, Russell and Amanda finding their lives forever changed by Ishi in their lives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2026
I was not emotionally prepared for this book. Even though I knew from the first sentence how it would ultimately end I could not slow down my progress. I wanted to savor every journey and did not want it to end, yet devoured it in two days. Animal books are hard to read but this was beautiful and heartbreaking and heartwarming and everything in between. I have a feeling this will be my top book of 2026, even though it’s only January. If you need a rating based on tears instead of stars….I cried at least five times.
January 13, 2025
This is a very moving book about Ishi, an aging African elephant, as he nears his end days, making his way back home to say thank you to the family that raised him fifty years ago. It takes place from the 1960s through 2015. It shines a spotlight on poaching as Africa is fighting to get their independence from the British Commonwealth. It's an incredible story, highly recommended, especially on audio.
September 25, 2023
A tender, beautiful story about Ishi, a male elephant’s life story. We meet him near his birth and follow him through the ups and downs of his life. I loved this book and yet it is hard to read because of the tenderness of the scenes as well as the brutality that elephants of Ishi’s generation faced. Learning a plethora of details about elephants from their birth, intelligence, compassion, community, and communication abilities was largely new information for me. Hearing about aspects of poaching and the daily dangers for male elephants was heart-breaking. The book made me ponder what life was hardest for an elephant, to be in a circus, zoo or hunted in the wild. As a “two-legger”, it made me reflect on my experiences seeing elephants in captivity, my upbringing in a hunting family and the ivory that I saw and even still have in my possession. This book, is both breathtakingly beautiful and sad yet definitely worth reading. The relationships Ishi has with the kind two-Leggers as well as other elephants will stay with you for a long time and impact you in profound ways. One of my favorite aspects of the book are the chapters narrated directly from Ishi’s viewpoint. I hear the audio version is a real treat. I may reread this book via audio just to experience that.
November 10, 2021
I am trying to review this through the tears that just won't stop; disclaimer* I am neither a crier, nor is this my typical book of interest but how incredibly eye opening to step out of my comfort zone...From the first page I knew this would be a powerful and unforgettable journey, with so much emotion. The build up of pain, fear, compassion and love literally became a ticking time bomb and exploded at that last chapter. Ishi is a remarkable creature, and the elephant's way of life is one everyone should know about. Elephants are too good for this world and if people had the same compassion and empathy for each other, as elephants do, what a better life we could live. This story has changed a part of me forever. #savetheelephants #beautifulstory #lovestory #bookshelf #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks
January 31, 2024
There are two stories entwined in this novel. One is the story of Ishi, an African Bull Elephant, and the other—a far less interesting story—reveals the trials and travails of the two-leggers that befriended him when he was young. Since none of the humans in this book are particularly well-developed, I would have preferred more about the elephants. It’s interesting that the author usually writes screen plays. The second half of the book seems cinematic in tone—especially the end, where Ishi is being filmed by drones and the footage broadcast to viewers at home.
Still, it was a riveting book and I enjoyed it.
Still, it was a riveting book and I enjoyed it.
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