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Water for Elephants by Francis Lawrence

In 2011, Charlie O'Brien, the proprietor of a small traveling circus encounters an elderly man named Jacob Jankowski, who has apparently become separated from his nursing home group, which attended the circus earlier that day. The two strike up a conversation and Jacob reveals that he had a career in the circus business and was present during one of the most infamous circus disasters of all time and the circus owner asks him to share his story.

Jankowski to O'Brien, starting when he was a 23-year-old student on the brink of a promising career as a during the . Unfortunately, during his last final exam, he is informed that his parents were killed in a car crash. His father has left huge debts, and the bank was foreclosing on Jacob's home. Feeling there is no point in returning to school, and having no home to go to, he jumps onto a passing train where he meets a man named Camel.

In the morning, Jacob discovers that he jumped on the Benzini Bros. . He sees a beautiful woman, Marlena Rosenbluth, and meets August, the circus's ringmaster, head animal trainer, and Marlena's husband. Jacob reveals he studied veterinary science and has noticed a problem with Silver, the star horse in the show. August agrees to hire Jacob as a vet for the circus animals after Jacob tells August that Silver has , is in terrible pain and will soon be unable to walk, never mind perform.

August instructs Jacob to "fix" Silver and keep him performing as long as possible. But Jacob cannot bear to see Silver's suffering and takes it upon himself to put Silver down. August is furious with Jacob's decision to euthanize Silver against orders. To show Jacob who is boss, he threatens to throw him from the moving train — telling him that an animal's suffering is nothing compared to a man's, and that Jacob must carry out all of August's future orders if he wishes to keep his job.

August eventually procures Rosie the elephant as Silver's replacement. He is initially thrilled and invites Jacob to his car for dinner and cocktails with him and Marlena. Jacob — clearly attracted to Marlena — watches uncomfortably as the married couple flirt and dance in front of him, but later in the evening, it becomes clear that their relationship is complicated. August is possessive, jealous and sometimes rough with Marlena.

In the next few weeks, August becomes frustrated when Rosie the elephant seems impossible to train. August is brutal with Rosie, beating her when she fails to follow orders. After one such beating that August gave to Rosie when she ran away after fleeing from the event and dropping Marlena, Jacob realizes that the elephant was trained in Polish and only understands Polish commands. After that, Rosie performs beautifully and the circus enjoys a short period of success. While working closely together to train Rosie, Jacob and Marlena fall in love. After August discovers this, he cruelly taunts the two. Later that night, Marlena discovers that August plans to throw Jacob from the train and they run away together, hiding in a local hotel. Soon after consummating their relationship, they are ambushed by August's henchmen who drag Marlena away and beat up Jacob.

Jacob returns to the circus to find Marlena. Marlena tells Jacob that his friends Walter (Kinko) and Camel were thrown from the train and killed. Several circus employees have become fed up with August's murderous cruelty and unleash their revenge by unlocking all the animals' cages while the big top tent is jam-packed with an audience enjoying Marlena and Rosie's performance. Jacob attempts to find Marlena in the chaos and August attacks him. When Marlena tries to stop August from beating Jacob, he turns his fury on her and attempts to choke her, while one of August's henchmen continues beating Jacob. Two circus workers save Jacob just in time. Lying on the ground, blooded and beaten, he looks up and sees Rosie hit August on the back of the head with a metal spike, killing him.

Jacob explains to O'Brien what happened afterward: he returned to Cornell, took his last exam, and finished his degree. He and Marlena took several of the horses and Rosie and got jobs with with he as a veterinarian and she continuing to perform with the animals. They married and had five children and kept Rosie until her death many years later. Eventually, he took a job as a vet at the Albany Zoo and Marlena died peacefully in her bed at an old age. He convinces O'Brien to hire him in the ticket booth. O'Brien agrees and Jacob states that he has finally come home.

A 3.7/5 stars