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  • The Zookeeper's Wife

  • A War Story
  • Written by: Diane Ackerman
  • Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
  • Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (44 ratings)

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The Zookeeper's Wife

Written by: Diane Ackerman
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
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Publisher's Summary

The New York Times bestseller now a major motion picture starring Jessica Chastain.

A true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Polish Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who managed to save over three hundred people. Yet their story has fallen between the seams of history.

Drawing on Antonina’s diary and other historical sources, bestselling naturalist Diane Ackerman vividly re-creates Antonina’s life as “the zookeeper’s wife,” responsible for her own family, the zoo animals, and their “guests”: resistance activists and refugee Jews, many of whom Jan had smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto.

Jan led a cell of saboteurs, and the Zabinski’s young son risked his life carrying food to the guests, while also tending to an eccentric array of creatures in the house: pigs, hare, muskrat, foxes, and more. With hidden people having animal names and pet animals having human names, it’s a small wonder the zoo’s code name became “The House under a Crazy Star.” Yet there is more to this story than a colorful cast. With her exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Ackerman explores the role of nature in both kindness and savagery, and she unravels the fascinating and disturbing obsession at the core of Nazism: both a worship of nature and its violation, as humans sought to control the genome of the entire planet.

©2007 Diane Ackerman (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks America

What the critics say

"Ackerman's writing is viscerally evocative, as in her description of the effects of the German bombing of the zoo area....This suspenseful beautifully crafted story deserves a wide readership." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Ackerman's affecting telling of the heroic Zabinskis' dramatic story illuminates the profound connection between humankind and nature, and celebrates life's beauty, mystery, and tenacity." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about The Zookeeper's Wife

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  • Overall
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Excellent book

So different then the movie and yet brilliant. The plight of the Poles is heartbreaking and the tenacity of the underground humbling. May we never stand by and watch again!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Wartime at the Zoo

I thought this was going to be historical novel but it turned out to be more of a biography. That was a pleasant surprise. This was a twist on most World War Two books. Jan and Antonina were heavily involved with the Underground Warsaw Resistance during the War hiding Jews and other refugees in their privately owned zoo. They had a busy household keeping both animals and other "guests" in their home away from the scrutiny of the German invaders. As an animal lover I enjoyed listening to a different perspective on War history.

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What a backdrop for WWII and the hiding of Jews

It is almost beyond imagination to think of Jews hidden in a semi-abandoned zoo, but it happened in Warsaw. A very well written account. Better insights on the restrictions imposed in Poland than in other accounts I’ve read.

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love love love

love it! the story was well written, the reader was so interesting and inspiring. there was never a dull moment. when she spoke in others perspectives she would bring them to life like you were actually talking to the characters 10/10 would recommend

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting subject but very dry narrative

Really interesting topic - the story of Antonina, the wife of the zookeeper of Warsaw Zoo during Nazi occupation, and how she and her husband used the zoo to shelter refugees and help Jews escape through the underground. Sounds like it should be a fascinating story written out, but sadly the writing is so dry and impersonal that it made what should have been an incredibly moving and important story really hard to stay engaged with. The author seems to have taken Antonina's memoirs and then retold them, dryly repeating the events second hand with commentary about Antonina and Jan's probable thoughts and actions at the time in such a detached manner that it makes the story seem very distant instead of close and personal.

If you can stick through the writing style, it really IS an incredible story of a family who took huge risks to help so many people, as well as the almost unbelievable amount of damage that was inflicted to Warsaw as Hitler tried to eliminate it entirely. Apparently this has been made into a movie, which might be a bit more approachable than the very detached style of narration.

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Not bad

I like listening to war stories, and hearing about how bad the wars were in the past. This book gave you great insight as to what a scared world it was.

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Life

This ebook kept me on the edge of my chair and not wanting to put it down. #Audible 1 is a life saver for me when I am working and cannot pick up a book. This book brought to life the stories that my grandmother had told me and the invasion of Poland. It is not just a story but history that came to life.

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