Author: Judy Reene Singer

ISBN:  978-0-06171-377-4

Click Here To Purchase An Inconvenient Elephant: A Novel

Very rarely in the book world is a reader “blown away” by what a writer puts on paper.  However, when I read Still Life with Elephant, which was Ms. Singer’s first novel that centered on the pachyderm world, I was so enthralled by the humor, hope, and the undeniable look at the love and friendship that can blossom between a wild animal and a human being; I was moved to laughter and tears at the same time.  So when I opened this package that came in my mailbox, I almost jumped for joy that this fantastic author had given me yet another “gift.”

In this new, very special sequel, Neelie Sterling is a young woman who has been in Africa for some time and is currently getting ready to return home to the reality of a “tame” world to pick up her old life.  The last thing she wants to do, however, is go back to the boring, hum-drum world of being a psychotherapist in the Big City.  She wants a challenge.  At least, that’s what her time in Africa has taught her.  She likes to be among the adventurous and wild, but the world around her is falling apart. Kenya is disintegrating into political chaos and Neelie literally has to “bolt” back to America and leave her precious Elephant Rescue behind.  As she boards a plane, she meets up with a definite “outback” woman by the name of Diamond-Rose Tremaine.  She has been the operator of Wild Tours Horseback Safaris for the past twenty years and, she, too, is on her way to America to escape some of the horrific things happening in Africa.  Soon the two women are stuck in Zimbabwe where they come across a bull elephant by the name of Tusker who is scheduled for execution.

 Neelie is absolutely beside herself about the scheduled horror that will be happening to the animal she truly loves with all her heart.  She teams up with the eccentric – and absolutely hysterical – safari operator, and when they land on U.S. soil, Diamond-Rose moves in with Neelie to help her try to find a way to save the mighty elephant.  The scenes between the two women are laugh-out-loud funny; Diamond-Rose is just one of those wonderful friends that we all wish we could find – someone who holds no grudges, tells no lies, and is literally the “what you see is what you get” kind of woman.  (When she’s first introduced to Neelie’s mom, those scenes are absolutely hysterical).

 Unfortunately for Neelie, she desperately needs the help of Tom, who is her extremely wealthy ex-boyfriend.  He is a conservationist to the extreme and was instrumental in helping Neelie the first time around with her elephant rescue.  But between Neelie’s pride and Tom’s slightly hurt ego (and a secret that he just can’t tell the woman he still loves), it is almost impossible for them to work together this time in order to do what’s right.

 As I said at the beginning of this review, this book is a “gift.”  It is one of those infrequent novels that make you think about life, love, and the power of what people can accomplish when they have enough heart and soul to change the world.  The only wish that I have is that Neelie and Diamond-Rose could be real people who live down the road from me, so that I could enjoy a cup of coffee with them and hear their magical tales at least twice a week.  I hope this author delivers more and more stories of the wild world that I, for one, hope is taken more seriously in the NEAR future.  We need to save these animals; by saving these incredible creatures, perhaps humanity could find a way to save ourselves.