pagesofglory22's review
4.0
Living in South Africa, I have always been awed by the nature of wild animals. Although I am not the biggest fan of non-fiction, books about animals always fascinate me.
I had read about Joy and George in previous books I had read - A Lion Called Christian and Born Wild, so I felt it necessary to read about Joy's own experiences.
The first part of the book deals with Elsa the lioness. Her mother was killed and her sisters sent to a zoo a bit later on. She was raised by Joy Adamson and eventually the decision was made to rehabilitate Elsa into the wild.
Later on, Elsa has three cubs. They are not nearly as tame or accepting towards humans as their mother, and they constantly struggle between imitating her actions and following their instincts.
The final part of the book follows Joy, George and the cubs as they move the cubs and try to get them to live independently.
The bond between Elsa and Joy is amazing. I loved how clearly the lions' personalities were shown throughout the book. Their antics thoroughly amused me, and their harships made me sad.
The writing was a bit stilted at times, and generally it was a bit hard to read. Not that I had any expectations of it being an easy read. The book was highly informative.
All in all, I loved reading about Joy's experiences, and seeing the lions grow up through her eyes. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in wild animals and their behaviour.
I had read about Joy and George in previous books I had read - A Lion Called Christian and Born Wild, so I felt it necessary to read about Joy's own experiences.
The first part of the book deals with Elsa the lioness. Her mother was killed and her sisters sent to a zoo a bit later on. She was raised by Joy Adamson and eventually the decision was made to rehabilitate Elsa into the wild.
Later on, Elsa has three cubs. They are not nearly as tame or accepting towards humans as their mother, and they constantly struggle between imitating her actions and following their instincts.
The final part of the book follows Joy, George and the cubs as they move the cubs and try to get them to live independently.
The bond between Elsa and Joy is amazing. I loved how clearly the lions' personalities were shown throughout the book. Their antics thoroughly amused me, and their harships made me sad.
The writing was a bit stilted at times, and generally it was a bit hard to read. Not that I had any expectations of it being an easy read. The book was highly informative.
All in all, I loved reading about Joy's experiences, and seeing the lions grow up through her eyes. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in wild animals and their behaviour.
h2o5o5's review
4.0
The well-known story of raising a lion cub - and successfully releasing her into the wild, the first time that this had been attempted. The challenges, both natural and bureaucratic, were enormous and are well-documented. The books (three "parts" in this particular volume) were written based on Joy's notes and George's journals. This is the weakest point, as certain sections, probably those written more from the sources than directly from memory, are a bit dry. Nonetheless a wonderful story - both about Elsa and the cubs and also about Joy and George, who dedicated their lives to the protection of East African wildlife.
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