About this item

In October 1940, twenty-year-old zookeeper Hettie Quin meets Violet, a three-year-old elephant arriving at the Belfast docks from Ceylon. Soon, she becomes Violet's dedicated zookeeper at the Bellevue Zoo. While she is mourning for the recent loss of her sister and the abandonment of her father, she finds contentment in her relationships with Violet and her fellow zookeepers.Six months later, in April 1941, Belfast is attacked. One evening, over five hours, 674 bombs are dropped and almost a thousand civilians killed. During the bombings, Hettie Quin fights to save her elephant and survive the destruction and escalating sectarian unrest of the city. Inspired by the life of Denise Austin, S. Kirk Walsh deftly renders the changing relationship between Hettie and her young charge, and their growing dependence on each other for survival and solace.



About the Author

S. Kirk Walsh

S. Kirk Walsh is the author of THE ELEPHANT OF BELFAST, which will be published in the U.S. in April 2021, and as THE ZOOKEEPER OF BELFAST in the UK, the Commonwealth, and Ireland in April and September 2021. Her essays, reviews, and stories have been published in many publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Longreads, the Virginia Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, Electric Literature, and others. Over the years, she has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies at Ucross, Yaddo, Ragdale, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Walsh is the founder of Austin Bat Cave, a writing and tutoring center that provides free writing workshops for young writers throughout the greater Austin area. In 2018, the literary magazine American Short Fiction awarded Walsh with an award of Extraordinary Service in the Literary Community. She also works as an editor and teacher. Walsh lives with her husband and two cats in Austin, Texas.



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