Sonja’s Pick
July 2023
West With Giraffes, A Novel
Lynda Rutledge
Lake Union Publishing, Feb 1 2021
For now, we may not have the chance to ride cross-country with a pair of giraffes, falling in love with them and each other while learning secrets to life, but we can still be charmed and inspired by them. They are still with us. Here’s hoping that will never, ever change.
And me too. I was charmed. What a delightful story that occurred in 1938 when Woodrow Wilson Nickel drives the truck that is scheduled to transport two giraffes cross-country. He is writing about it now at 105 as he sits in a nursing home after being reminded of that trip while seeing some giraffes on TV and he recalls that there is someone who needs to hear his story.
It’s full of suspense and brings one back to those uncertain times, before roads were smooth and Hitler was marching into Europe. It explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals and the kindness of strangers.