Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story

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Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 583 ratings · 145 reviews

Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya’s rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other bab...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published May 8th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published March 1st 2012)

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The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

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Sep 13, 2012 g-na rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star-faves, biology-zoology, memoirs-and-biographies, africa

I just adored this book. It is an autobiography telling the story of an African-born British woman--how her family came to Kenya, describing how it was growing up there, meeting her first love, then later falling deeply in love with her soulmate. It is also the story of how Sheldrick, as the wife of a game warden, began to raise orphan wildlife to give them a second chance at life. She worked with many elephant calves and became an expert on how to raise them, given their surprisingly delicate n...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Joyreader rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved the subject matter of this book and found it an intriguing read of a life so different from my own. Growing up in Kenya, marrying men who helped create the national parks there, and ultimately founding an elephant orphanage makes for fascinating material in the form of Sheldrick's life. She's an incredibly courageous woman and I found her an inspiration for her ability to deal with heartbreak and continue working for her passion.

Unfortunately, I felt the author tripped up in a couple of...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I didn't actually quite finish this book, so clearly I didn't love it. It was a window into a completely different kind of life, motivated by a completely different worldview. I am not an animal person. At all. My kids have never even had a goldfish for a pet, much less a dog. Much less a baby rhinoceros or elephant. And I can assure you I would never, ever have a baby duiker run around the savannah all day then sleep in my bed at night. Or have a wild bird fly around my house, even if it was sm...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by another library volunteer. I found it charming, informative, and truely a love story between a man and woman, elphants and other wild creatures, and a country that is beautiful and wild.

Dame Daphne's book reinforces my belief that there is a lot to be learned by observation and natural cycles. I am a strong believer in education, but feel that books should not be our only texts. The trial and error of trying to find a formula to keep these wild orphans alive an...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, memoir

I bought this book after seeing the “Born to be Wild” IMAX movie featuring the author and her work with orphaned elephants in Kenya. The area fascinates me and her life's mission, at least as portrayed by IMAX, is truly moving. Though the movie focuses on elephants, Sheldrick's nursed a variety of creatures over the decades and she clearly loves them all.

This memoir is an interesting look into her life, including how her relatives came to settle in the area (sadly not part of the Happy Valley s...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Martin Rowe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I have visited and given money to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and so should you. Daphne Sheldrick has made a major contribution to wildlife conservation and her work is to be applauded. Her memoir is a somewhat conventional "Out of Africa" story: hardy pioneers, gauzy sunsets, magnificent vistas, and lots of lots of stories about the animals who have come her way. She was obviously deeply in love with David, and yet he strangely remains a somewhat remote character. He is defi...more Disclaimer: I have visited and given money to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and so should you. Daphne Sheldrick has made a major contribution to wildlife conservation and her work is to be applauded. Her memoir is a somewhat conventional "Out of Africa" story: hardy pioneers, gauzy sunsets, magnificent vistas, and lots of lots of stories about the animals who have come her way. She was obviously deeply in love with David, and yet he strangely remains a somewhat remote character. He is defined by his deeds, as he and other rangers carve out Kenya's wildlife parks and reserves and heroically try to stop the decimation of the wildlife caused by our insatiable demand for trinkets made from ivory and potions made from rhino horn.

It's hard to criticize a book for what it does NOT say, but, having worked for over ten years with another Kenyan conservationist, Wangari Maathai, I have a very different perspective on the history of Kenya that Dame Daphne covers. (If you haven't read Maathai's memoir, Unbowed, I would recommend it.) What struck me most noticeably in Dame Daphne's story was the almost complete absence of black Kenyans. Nearly all of the main characters are white and of British stock. The Mau Mau rebellion is treated as an affront against white settlers. Daphne's daughter studies in South Africa, and some of her relatives retire there to live, but there is only one reference to Apartheid. We get no sense of the conservation movement in the context of Kenya as an independent country. We do not hear from black Kenyan political figures or the press or, indeed, from the poachers. We never learn the biographies of the black attendants who look after and even live with the animals. Tribes are mentioned in connection with their hunting practices, but these Africans are rarely individualized. It's almost as if they're simply background for the white people's attempts to save the animals.

None of this, I'm sure, is done deliberately. Dame Daphne speaks Swahili and has lived in Africa all her life. Many of the white people she worked with were born in Africa. Yet she considers herself British first and foremost and she appears to share the bitterness of the settlers in southern Africa who felt sold out by British government as it retreated from Empire in the fifties and sixties. The animals she has spent her life rescuing have personalities and biographies, and her life with them is fondly and deeply remembered. It's a pity that all those black Africans who helped her all those years couldn't have been afforded the same attention.(less)

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Sep 13, 2012 Kyashar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Also read this book while traveling in East Africa. I would recommend it to anyone but especially to anyone planning to visit Kenya or Tanzania. A friend who has traveled to Africa to work on elephant preservation and is a great lover of the animals told me about the book. The book impresses upon you the interconnectedness of all life and the "humanity" of the animals, especially elephants. In that respect it impacted me much like The Zookeeper's Wife. The book had me looking at the wildlife we...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Marie Knock rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is everything I want in a book - it makes you laugh, sigh, cry, dream and it teaches you something new. There are several times I gasped out-loud when Daphne describes the horror that us humans bestow on the elephants of Kenya, but her passion and dedication towards the conservation and rehabilitation of these gentle giants gives me hope.

It was very different to what I was expecting. I had anticipated that it would dwell on the story of the David Sheldrick orphanage in Nairobi, but this is...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, biography, ecology, hunting, memoir, elephants, animal-rescue

This is an inspirational book for anyone interested in rescuing animals. It's also an interesting (if not a bit scattered) history of the decimation of the animal population in Kenya and other parts of Africa. There are some emotional parts that could have been much more emotional if Sheldrick had not kept such a "distanced" tone to her narrative. Not detached, just "distanced," which is understandable considering all the emotional pain she has experienced throughout the years.
I've read other r...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Shirley Freeman added it

In spite of the fact that I'm not an animal lover and in spite of the occasional repetitiveness, I enjoyed this memoir. Dame Daphne Sheldrick,born and raised in Kenya, has devoted her life to preserving wildlife and developing National Parks in Kenya. She is the first person to successfully hand-raise orphaned elephants. Dame Sheldrick was largely influenced by, and deeply in love with,her husband David Sheldrick. This is the story of their relationship with each other, their families, and mostl...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Karlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am continuing to read this book only because Of its window into Kenya of the 50s and because I love books about nature- however- I am praying this woman comes to her senses in some of her views on big game hunting and colonialism. To wit: despite the fact that her British family decided to take up Kenya's offer of land and move into masai tribal lands she is astounded at the Mau Mau anti colonial guerilla war- different tribes but you get the point. She sees her family as benign colonists. Als...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Alisa Bowman rated it 4 of 5 stars

You've probably seen Dame Daphne Sheldrick on TV, but you might not have known her name. Her elephant nursery in Kenya is world famous and the topic of many documentaries, including Disney's Born to Be Wild.

The book is a bit of a slow read. Sheldrick starts off with some family history, tracing the steps of her ancestors who traveled from England to Kenya during the reign of Great Britian. While this history is intriguing, Shelrick lacked the details necessary to weave compelling stories into t...more You've probably seen Dame Daphne Sheldrick on TV, but you might not have known her name. Her elephant nursery in Kenya is world famous and the topic of many documentaries, including Disney's Born to Be Wild.

The book is a bit of a slow read. Sheldrick starts off with some family history, tracing the steps of her ancestors who traveled from England to Kenya during the reign of Great Britian. While this history is intriguing, Shelrick lacked the details necessary to weave compelling stories into this part of the book. As a result, it reads like a list of facts and happenings. It takes more than a hundred pages before one gets to the elephants.

Sheldrick raised more than just elephants. She also nursed rhinos, zebras and many other African mammals and birds. She masterfully wrote stories that allowed the reader to know each animal's personality. Certain scenes will always stick with me, such as the baby antelope that slept in her bed and that tried to push her husband David out of it. Those delightful tales are woven between tragic ones. She tells about babies that didn't make it and about others that did, only to die at the hands of poachers. Her description of what happens to an elephant when it is struck by a poison arrow is heartbreaking. There were parts of the book that brought me to tears.

I realize that Sheldrick isn't a scientist, but I would have liked more details about the nature of some of the animals she writes about. She mentions that she thought these animals could communicate through telepathy and infrared, but she skims over the biology of how that might work. She seems to take for granted that the reader knows more about elephants and other animals than we really do.

This book is an important read, one that hopefully will help to stop people from buying ivory--ever. Same with any supplement or product made from rhino horn. This would be a great book to require a high school geography or world history class to read because they would learn about the British empire while also learning about these great creatures. (less)

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Jun 28, 2012 Lydia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Between a 3 and 4. I seriously almost put this book down in the first half...but I was so glad I didn't. The second half was wonderful. I wish she could have kept her same story-telling voice throughout the whole book. Her family history in Kenya is interesting but was not well-written like the rest of the book. Interesting with her life and the animal orphans life. I would be interested in just a book about each orphan she raised or was involved in...many were literally given just a sentence......more

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Apr 23, 2013 Diana M. Hawkins rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was the elephants that drew me to this book, even though Daphne Sheldrick's life story includes so much more. It begins with her great grandparents' journey from South Africa to a remote part of Kenya in 1907, and tells of her family's struggles, their heartbreaks, and celebrations as they forge a new way of life in the Kenyan wilds that are teeming with game. From a young age, she is drawn to caring for young, motherless creatures, a calling which ultimately becomes her life's work. Later, m...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Shelley rated it 5 of 5 stars

A wonderful book! This is a biography of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who grew up in Africa. She and her husband lived in Tsavo National Park and had a love for wildlife. There are many stories of all the "orphans" they took in, from ostriches to rhinoceroses. The stories are often humorous and poignant. Upon her husband's untimely early death, Dame Sheldrick became the chair of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which is now know worldwide for its elephant orphan conservation program. When the mothe...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Carolyn Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in S.Africa from Scotland in the 1820's, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her pioneering work in perfecting the right milk formula has saved countless elephants and other baby animals from certain death. But her memoir, "Love,Life and Elephants: An African Love Story", is not just an account of her relationships with a host of animal orphans. It is also the story of her love for David Sheldrick, the famous warden...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book for animal lovers, and those who would like to be animal lovers, and for elephant lovers in particular. It is warm, caring, full of anecdotes and observations about the habits of the "lower orders". We find, however, that they are not the lower orders at all. Many animals are more compassionate than mankind. As we are learning about animal behavior, we are learning about the pioneering done for the first National Parks in Africa, and the role that Dame Daphne Sheldrick a...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Bettyann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great book.... Love elephants and reading about them fiction or non fiction.This book had the added
Hook for me because of the authors life and work with Africas wildlife.

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Jul 20, 2012 Florence rated it 4 of 5 stars

Daphne Sheldrick spent her whole life in Africa, yet she still considers herself to be English. It's a mystery but she paints a vivid picture of her life in Kenya. Her husband was the administrator for a huge national park in Eastern Kenya. To their credit, they vehemently tried to protect the lives of wild animals under their care. The value of ivory and rhino horns in Asia attracted poachers which slaughtered animals mercilessly. Herds were reduced and in some cases entirely vanquished. After...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Claire Meirowitz added it

This is the best preservation-of-nature book I've read since "Gorillas in the Mist" many years ago. In fact, I was so emotionally involved in Daphne Sheldrick's wonderful prose that I read portions of this book out loud to my husband. I heartily recommend it to anyone who cares about animals and worries about what happens to them. The author's anecdotes about rearing orphaned elephants, antelope, rhinos and more are both heartwarming and, often, heartbreaking. Please join me in loving and apprec...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

AMAZING book if you are interested in animal social behavior. It was slow in the beginning- but you will be rewarded if you can get past that. Her life is interesting, but her stories of the orphaned animals she has raised will bring you to tears one moment, and to giggles the next. What a beautiful, adventurous, and impactful life her and her family have lived! While I didn't read anything amazingly new here, her observations and insights into the memory and social intelligence of elephants rea...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Jean Clarke rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Nature lovers

Recommended to Jean by: Los Angeles Times Review

A fascinating look at the colonization of Kenya and its families, featuring Daphne Sheldrick whom, with her husband David, established the first wild animal preserves in the region. Follow their lives as they fight poachers, uncontrolled hunting and the hazzards of beaurocracy, adopting abandoned animal infants the likes of elephants, rhinos, zebras, antelope, etc. This soaring tale will fill your heart and stimulate your activist glands. For anyone who loves animals and nature and who fears for...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, animals, biography

A very well written book. Dame Daphne Sheldrick writes with passion and admiration not only for her beloved husband David, but the many wild African animals they raised, loved, and sought to protect from poachers. David and Daphne developed Tsavo National Park East and Tsavo National Park West in Kenya, Africa. Much of what is known about elephants and understanding the delicate balance between nature and animals was observed and written about by the Sheldricks. Definitely worth reading before g...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story of a woman who is born, raised, and falls in love in Africa. She and her husband take in wild orphans from the national parks of Kenya and she learns to raise and release elephants, rhinos and other animals into the wild.

This is a story about the life of a woman who loves Africa and its landscape, but also who has a deep love and appreciation for the preservation of animals and the lessons that they can teach us about life.

It is a little simplistic, but was a pleasure to read while t...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Sarah Rozny rated it 4 of 5 stars

This books is mostly about the care of wild animals. Daphne Sheldrick's life is just the thread that connects the stories of each of the animals she cared for. This book makes me want to like animals. (Yes, I have been called Cruella DeVille before, despite my decade of vegetarianism). I've even convinced my husband we need a pet lamb, and not one we'll eat later, either. The descriptions of Africa and the animals make me miss the continent desperately! However, the stories of poachers, make me...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Chrissie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bio, audio, kenya, fauna, history

I have assorted thoughts on this book. First of all the language is detached, polite, oh so proper British English, quite different from how Americans express themselves. The "Britishness" is reflected not only in word pronunciation but also in the choice of words, the views presented and the life style of the family, of clear colonial stock. I am listening to the audiobook and the narration by Virginia McKenna emphasizes this. It kind of bugs me a bit. Maybe the "Britishness" of the narration p...more I have assorted thoughts on this book. First of all the language is detached, polite, oh so proper British English, quite different from how Americans express themselves. The "Britishness" is reflected not only in word pronunciation but also in the choice of words, the views presented and the life style of the family, of clear colonial stock. I am listening to the audiobook and the narration by Virginia McKenna emphasizes this. It kind of bugs me a bit. Maybe the "Britishness" of the narration perfectly depicts the "Britishness" of the author, so I am unsure whether this is a fair criticism. Even for me the narration is slow! Others will definitely have to increase the speed. The narrator puts too much emotion into her reading.

There is quite a bit about the policies of animal protection in Kenya, about natural selection, authorized culling versus poaching and how the entire ecosystem affects wildlife. This is pretty interesting. This is related to both politics and history too. The Mau Mau Rebellion is covered, as well as the independence of Kenya. Here again one is given the English colonial point of view! To me this seems rather one-sided.

I was getting a little bit annoyed, because I wanted to hear about her relationships with the orphaned animals! That is what primarily attracted me to the book. Luckily, in the second half, there is quite a bit more about the animals. Elena and Gregory Peck and Bunty and others have joined the story, so now I am not grumbling any more. I love the antics of these animals, but don't be fooled, the book is an even balance between animal stories and a history of the protection of wildlife in Kenya.

There is also quite a bit about the author's love for her second husband....while she was still married to the first! With the "Britishness", with everything having to be so properly correct, the duplicity was a bit jarring. Her second husband is David Sheldrick, the David Sheldrick of the Kenyan David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. At times this book felt like it was written in support of this trust. At times it read as a eulogy for David.

What I enjoy most is learning about the animals! They are very special. How do they communicate? How do they understand? Telepathy? I don't know..... It is hard to find a logical explanation.(less)

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Aug 25, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm a sucker for books about animals, and exotic places with a lifestyle that is far from what I know. I enjoyed the book and was amazed at the courage and persistance of the people in the book. However, I found myself tiring of reading it and began to skim over pages towards the end. A bit less detail would have suited me better, especailly as related to the politics of a country that went from a part of the British Empire to a self-governing entity. While I do not deny that this probably does...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful book, though I thought the beginning was a little slow with the family history on settling the area, once the orphans started appearing I couldn't put the book down. Every orphan story was amazing from the mongoose right on up to the elephants, and to be able to "relive" them through the eyes of Dame Daphne Sheldrick was an honor. She had such a connection with the animals and a deep seeded love and respect. Her life is truly amazing and the love she has experienced, both human and ani...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Rachel Whitley rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who loves animals, and those who value the wonders of nature

Shelves: animals, biography, books-i-recommend, elephants, gorgeous-prose, made-me-cry, thought-provoking, women, animal-nonfiction, 5-stars, wildlife

This is a love story, of a love between two kindred souls who bonded through their passion for wildlife conservation, a love of the musty, sun-bleached beauty of Africa, and most of all, a love of elephants.
And I have no words for it.
"Love, Life, and Elephants" soared with vivid descriptions of the exquisite, and sometimes fleeting beauty of nature, the empathy of "wild" animals, and the passion of dedicated individuals who gave their bodies and souls to rescue and preserve the wonders of nature...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Erika rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book particularly for the descriptions of the animals and their behavior and of Kenyan landscapes at a time prior to as large a human population and as large an ivory crisis.

I don't like the fact that the book reads just from the perspective of a Kenyan white settler; though as a memoir, it is appropriate. I guess I'm just saddened that there is not more recognition of other Kenyans and their roles in conservation receiving a passing mention in the book.

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About Daphne Sheldrick

Dame Daphne Sheldrick has been named as one of the 35 most significant conservationists ever. She has won the BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award and has an Honorary Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from Glasgow University. In 2002 the Kenyan government made her a Moran of the Burning Spear, and in 2006 she was made a Dame of the British Empire for her services to conservation work. She r...more

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“Life is for the living, not the dead, who belong to the past and are at peace and beyond all further pain and suffering 'somewhere in the great somewhere” — 2 people liked it

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