The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Zookeeper's Wife is the remarkable (true) story of Antonina Zabinski and her family who used their position as keepers of the Warsaw Zoo to help rescue several hundred Jews during the Holocaust. Unfortunately, the writing didn't really live up the story Diane Ackerman was trying to tell. I found it choppy and a little amateurish. Ms. Ackerman would have done better to pick a style and stick with it. Instead the book moves awkwardly from reasonably engaging story to clearly third-party biography to quasi-relevant digressions on everything from natural history to eugenics to Nazi policy. Most unfortunately, Ms. Ackerman's obviously careful research and access to excellent primary sources (notably Antonina's journals from the period) seem to hinder her ability to tell the story effectively. She takes great pains to inform the reader that when she says "Antonina thought [felt, believed, etc.:], ..." she is, in fact, quoting Antonina directly. The quotes sprinkled throughout break the flow more than help it. The story is not, for the most part, narrated as if by an involved party, eyewitness or invisible but present narrator, but rather as a report by a historian. The primary-source quotes, however, are interjected in a style that would fit much better with narration as a story rather than a historical report.



Although the writing left something to be desired, the story itself is incredible. The book was clearly well-researched. Best of all, I learned a lot that I hadn't known about the Polish resistance, life in Poland during the war, etc. It was nice to be reminded that amidst all the horror there were people who were neither victims nor victimizers and who put themselves at enormous risk to help the people who most needed.


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