An Elephant in My Kitchen: What the Herd Taught Me about Love, Courage and Survival (Elephant Whisperer #2) [J0261]

2019 - PB Nice clean conditon. Françoise never expected to find herself responsible for a herd of elephants with a troubled past. A chic Parisienne, her life changed forever when she fell in love with South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony. Together they founded a game reserve but after Lawrence's death, Françoise faced the daunting responsibility of running Thula Thula without him. Poachers attacked their rhinos, their security team wouldn't take orders from a woman and the authorities were threatening to cull their beloved elephant family. On top of that, the herd's feisty new matriarch Frankie didn't like her. In this heart-warming and moving book, Françoise describes how she fought to protect the herd and to make her dream of building a wildlife rescue center a reality. She found herself caring for a lost baby elephant who turned up at her house, and offering refuge to traumatized orphaned rhinos, and a hippo called Charlie who was scared of water. As she learned to trust herself, she discovered she'd had Frankie wrong all along . . . Filled with extraordinary animals and the humans who dedicate their lives to saving them, An Elephant in My Kitchen is a captivating and gripping read.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Such a heart wrenching story of ultimate hope and what nature can teach us. What a beautiful world this would be if more people could 'listen and see'!"; "She writes from a place of deep love for the animals in her reserve. It is easy to see, as one reads, the little ones frolicking in the African sun. And yet, there is always the fear of poachers, despite the amazing security measures that have been put into place."; "Heartbreaking and beautiful, after reading about her in The Elephant Whisperer, this is Francoise in her own words. How a clueless city girl ended up rescuing so many animals. Such heartbreak!"