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Lynda Rutledge

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West with Giraffes: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Lynda Rutledge (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 89,729 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Texas Center for the Book Great Read Selection

“A delightful read.” —The New York Times Book Review

“West with Giraffes is truly a fun read…I [can’t] imagine a reading list that would not contain Lynda Rutledge’s astonishing novel.” —Old Naples News

“Every year I find at least one book that soars above all the others. This year West With Giraffes is that book.” —Florida Times Union

“A flawless novel.” —Austin American-Statesman

“A perfect balance between history and fiction.” —POPSUGAR

“[A] larger-than-life story about the power of both animal magnetism and human connection…witty, charming, and heartwarming.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

Once in a great while, a book hits my desk that is so full of memorable characters and scenes that I can’t wait to see it publish! Such was the case with West with Giraffes, the historical novel based on the incredible true story of an unlikely pair transporting two giraffes across the country during the Depression. The author was inspired by the event, which she discovered while working on a nonfiction piece about the San Diego Zoo, and this book contains so many charming details, I felt like I was along for the ride.

I’ll never forget Woody, the young Dust Bowl survivor, and his curmudgeonly older boss. The challenges they endure on the trip end up teaching young Woody indelible life lessons about fate, love, and life. From truck breakdowns to circus con artists, from meeting the woman of your dreams to visions of life in California, this is the kind of laugh, cry, tell-a-friend read that you long for. Grab a blanket and a cup of tea, and enjoy this wild road trip.

- Danielle Marshall, Editor

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088FF4S7Q
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lake Union Publishing (February 1, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6742 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1542023343

Best Sellers Rank: #153 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #2 in Literary Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #3 in Historical Literary Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.6 89,729 ratings

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About the author

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Lynda Rutledge

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Lynda Rutledge is the bestselling author of West with Giraffes, translated into 16 languages and selected by Library of Congress-affiliated Texas Center for the Book as their 2023 Great Read. She’s also the author of Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale, winner of the 2013 Writers League of Texas Fiction Award which was adapted into a 2019 French film starring Catherine Deneuve and the newly-released Mockingbird Summer set in 1964 on the eve of the Sixties' massive cultural change.

She holds a BA and MA in American literature and an MFA in creative writing. In her eclectic career before becoming a novelist, she was a full-time professional writer––a freelance journalist, copywriter, film reviewer, book collaborator, and travel writer. After years residing in urban locales such as Chicago and San Diego, she currently lives with her husband outside Austin, Texas.

For much more information about all her books as well as Lynda, visit her website: lynda at lyndarutledge dot com .

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

89,729 global ratings

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Melissa B Rothrock

This is the best book I've read in years!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024

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This is the kind of book that is so well written that you forget you're looking at words on a page, and just get transported into the story as if you're there. The characters are well developed and I felt I had known them for years by the end. The ending of the story is satisfying and uplifting but not overly sweet and unrealistic. I've recommended this book to everyone I know!! It feels like a new classic.

17 people found this helpful

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Chris T.

The Darlings

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024

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Great story about a trip across the country from New York to California to deliver giraffes to the San diego zoo.

The book has many interesting characters and kept me guessing often as to what was going to happen next.

I loved the passion and the care and concern that was always shown for the giraffes

The book was fast pace and easy to follow. I hated for it to end.

At times I was sad and other times laughing .

Would definitely recommend this read to anyone who loves animals.

16 people found this helpful

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odie33

Beautiful, funny and touching story

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2024

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I was captured by this book right from the start -- "If ever I could claim to see the face of God, it was in the colossal faces of those giraffes." And the way it built around the real story and circumstances, from the dust bowl and "Hoovervilles", to the 1938 hurricane, to how these giraffes captured America's imagination at a difficult time, and with the travels documented in telegrams and newspaper articles, was stunning. The very human story of Woody Nickel, a young man who has lost his family to the Dust Bowl, held rapt by the sight of these giraffes, feels very real and moving. As he also finds himself rapt with a certain red-haired photographer, this odd trio of zookeeper, orphan and runaway wife find themselves bound together by their love for these animals and encounter trials and tribulations along the way. As Woody furiously writes his story before he dies, he reflects on the events. As he says, "This memory is always with me, always within reach, and always living in technicolor from deadly start to bittersweet finish, no matter how old I keep getting." Or, more simply, "Memories stick to things." This is a captivating story, beautifully written. Short of 5 stars which I consider as great works, but I highly recommend it.

15 people found this helpful

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BecDavies

Touching story, well written.

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2024

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Thank you, Ms. Rutledge, for this wonderful read. What thoroughly enjoyable experience. Loved the character development, and the way I felt like I was on this journey with them.

One person found this helpful

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Pam L.

Really Great Story

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024

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I read a lot of books and am always on the lookout for something new, different and you can't put down. This book is all of those. Although it's fiction, it's based on some true events and the author has made them jump off the page. It has everything, great characters, a human and an animal love story and a great background. It deserves four plus stars!

5 people found this helpful

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Anne K.

I don’t understand the negative reviews!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024

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I LOVED this book! I read constantly and get so tired of the same ole, same ole!!! I’m always looking for an author who can tell a story that is thoughtful and believable! I just don’t understand why it got so many negative reviews! I don’t agree at all! This story was written so well and it held my attention all the way through to the end! It was so well written that I felt the emotions of the characters! I felt that I was right there, experiencing them with each one! I usually share my books with friends but I’m keeping West With Giraffes to myself!!!

6 people found this helpful

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Neelofur Ahmad

Lovely and sweet

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

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This is just the sweetest book I have read in a long time. So uplifting. And giraffes are my favorite large animals…loved them the most when I visited Africa. The book is such a refreshing escape from today’s upside down world. I recommend it highly.

3 people found this helpful

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"Sherry"

Lovely and meandering

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024

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Based on the true story of the “hurricane giraffes” who crossed the ocean and then the United States to end up in a zoo in San Diego, it’s really an emotional road trip tale of love and found family.

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, or Woody, is a Dust Bowl orphan. It’s 1938 and he’s living a miserable life as a transplant in New York City, living on a cot with a distant relative. When two giraffes who survive a hurricane on the Atlantic during their trip from Africa and end up in Woody’s harbor, he decides he will follow them to Californy, the promised land for Okies like him.

But he’s just an 18 year old kid with no money, no food, no skills, so how’s he going to convince the Old Man in charge of those darlings to let him tag along? But convince (and connive) he does, and what follows is a 12 day trek across many states with Woody in the driver’s seat of a custom built truck meant to deliver the giraffes to the zoo.

Along the way there’s a countless obstacles put in their path, threatening their success, but at the heart of it all is a love of animals, the realization that you can’t go it alone, and a story of first love.

The tale unravels as 103 year old Woody is approaching his last days as a resident of a home for WWII veterans. He needs to share the story before he dies with the one woman he knows needs to hear it.

It’s lovely and meandering and full of surprises and glorious descriptions of my favorite animal, the giraffe.

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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BonnieLC

Great Read

Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2024

Verified Purchase

I started reading this thinking, oh what a cute story and not much else. However at some point that turned to what a captivating story and I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend, full of heart mixed with lots of reality checks.

david canford

original and heart warming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

A fabulous book inspired by a real event: two giraffes who are driven from New York to San Diego Zoo in 1938 after arriving from Africa. The writing is superb and often gripping.
The author adds imagined characters, the two main ones being a young ‘Okie’ who has a ‘dust bowl’ back story and a female photographer. Apparently, the en route adventures are also imagined.
The other main character, who is based on a real person, reminds the reader that animals don’t have the hatred and evil in them that we humans can have, and that they are so often better than we are.
A wonderful book that will stay with me a long time.

Mo Beazley

Thé Power of Animals

Reviewed in France on December 27, 2023

Verified Purchase

Gentle start to an intriguing story about human and animal interactions. How simple choices can affect our future and others. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

Ursula

Buch "West with Giraffes"

Reviewed in Germany on June 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

Ein wirklich tolles Buch zu lesen.

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