West with Giraffes: A Charming Adventure Told by A Dying Old Man
- Melissa Gouty
- 1 minute ago
- 4 min read
Listen to your friends' recommendations!
Several friends told me over the last few years that I should read Lynda Rutledge's historical fiction book, West with Giraffes, which was published in 2021. As I often do, I added it to my continually growing, always rotating To Be Read List. Recently, after completing a couple of massive books with complex plots, I needed something different. West with Giraffes sounded "right." (Do you, too, get a kind of psychic charge when a book emphatically wants you to read it because it knows that you need it?)
And my, oh my, was this the right choice. It was fun. Charming. Interesting. Based on a true story. Who knew that I would fall in love with a cantankerous, 105-year-old narrator who is trying to write all of his story before his death, fighting off the staff of the nursing home where he lives when they tell him to stop? He resists eating. Doing physical therapy. Nothing, after all, is more important to Woodrow Wilson Nickel than recording this story for "her" before he dies.
The Truth in the Fiction
Historical fiction is aptly named. It is based on historical events, but with "supplemental" fictional material blended in. Since we can document the events, and sometimes quotes made by the people involved, but not necessarily the emotions, conversations, and individual actions that occurred, the "fiction" takes over.
West with Giraffes is based on the true story of a pair of African giraffes, shipped from Africa, headed for the San Diego Zoo in 1938.
Consider this. Giraffes are extremely hard to catch. Everyone knows that they are tall, averaging around 18 feet in height. Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world, making them even more difficult to ship across the ocean. Now, imagine this. You have to crate these animals up for a 52-day voyage across 3200 miles of ocean. When they land in America, you have to figure out how to drive them safely across the country, from New York to San Diego.
Add this to the equation: The two giraffes making this epic journey are caught in the worst hurricane ever to hit the East Coast prior to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The hurricane of September 1938 killed more than 700 people, and the ship transporting the giraffes had to come through that storm. The giraffes survived, but not unscathed.
West with Giraffes: The Journey Begins
In reality, Charley Smith, the head zookeeper at the San Diego Zoo, met the giraffes at the dock in New York and began the work of transporting them. In the novel, Charley Smith becomes the character Riley Jones, often called "The Old Man," by narrator Woodrow Wilson Nickel. The one person who stays the same in both real life and the historical fiction is Belle Benchley, the first woman zookeeper, renowned for her work as Director of the San Diego Zoo from 1927 to 1953. She was often called "The Boss" and "Zoo Lady."
Very few actual details were recorded about the giraffes' actual trek across the United States. That's where Lynda Rutledge leaps into fiction. The characters Riley Jones and Belle Benchley are real, as are the giraffes. The actual route, the added characters of Woodrow Wilson and "Red," the determined, curly-haired journalist, are all fictional.
Rutledge chooses to take the giraffes transported along the Lee Highway. But "highways" in 1938 were nothing like they are today. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, "Woody" (with the pun intended on the name "wooden nickel!") hires on as the driver of the truck moving the giraffes overland. Many interesting, sometimes funny and sometimes scary, adventures ensue.
A Time Capsule of the late 1930s
One of the charms of West with Giraffes is that it encapsulates some of the era's real issues. Because of the Depression, people are always hungry and searching for work. The giraffes and their keepers encounter Hoovervilles, traveling circuses, and hobos. Attitudes toward women, "Oakies," and the effect of the Dust Bowl add depth and interest to the storyline.
Probably the most compelling charm of the novel is the connection between animals and humans. The giraffes get to know their minders, and their minders get to know them. In the process, Woody's life is irrevocably changed.
An added delight
West with Giraffes is more than a simple animal story. It's got some heart-wrecking backstories, wild characters, and a bit of a mystery.
Who, after all, is the "her" that Woody is so determinedly writing the story for, nearing his death at the age of 105?
If you want to know more, read this:
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