Best Selling Books by Sara Gruen

De virkelige monstrene kommer i mange forkledninger og kan være nærmere enn du tror. Madeline Hyde, en ung sosietetskvinne fra Philadelphia, følger motvillig med ektemannen og deres beste venn til det skotske høylandet på jakt etter sjøormen i Loch Ness – samtidig som et virkelig monster, Hitler, fører krig mot de allierte. I den lille landsbyen har lokalbefolkningen ikke annet enn forakt for de privilegerte nykommerne. Maddie blir overlatt til seg selv på den isolerte kroa, der det er mangel på mat og brensel, og et besøk av postbudet kan bety tragiske nyheter. Likevel finner Maddie seg etter hvert til rette, og hun innser at ingenting er som det gir seg ut for og at monstre kan dukke der du minst venter det. Sara Gruen ble litterær superstjerne med Vann til elefantene, som ble en bestselger verden over. Boken fikk en rekke litterære priser, og ble filmatisert med Reese Witherspoon og Robert Pattinson i hovedrollene. Bøkene hennes er oversatt til 43 språk og har solgt i mer enn 10 millioner eksemplarer. Ved vannkanten er hennes femte roman. På norsk foreligger også Vann til elefantene og Apehuset.

FROM INTERNATIONALLY-BESTSELLING AUTHOR SARA GRUEN, A COLLECTION OF HER MOST BELOVED NOVELS ''ONE OF AMERICA''S MOST COMPELLING STORYTELLERS'' Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help 1 - WATER FOR ELEPHANTS The international phenomenon - with over 10 million copies sold, made into a film with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. ''I loved Water for Elephants'' Stephen King ''You are so immersed in circus life that you are blinded by the thrilling, fatal dazzle of sequins and sawdust'' The Telegraph ''An imaginative modern fairy story, teeming with eccentric characters'' The Times The Great Depression 1929 - when Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits in the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive making one-night stands in town after endless town. He meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her... 2 - AT THE WATER''S EDGE A gripping and poignant love story set in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands at the end of the Second World War. ''The only fault I can find with this book is that I''ve already finished it'' Jodi Picoult ''Truly enthralling'' Scotsman ''Breathtaking'' Harper''s Bazaar 1945. After disgracing themselves at a high society party, spoilt young Philadelphia socialites Maddie and Ellis Hyde are cut off from the family without a penny. Ellis decides their salvation will be to hunt down the Loch Ness Monster, a venture his father very publicly failed at. So, oblivious to WW2 raging around them, they make their way to the Scottish Highlands, where Maddie has to face reality and decide just who the real monsters are. 3 - APE HOUSE The New York Times bestseller. ''If you love animals like I do, it''s a must read'' Ellen DeGeneres ''Had me instantly enraptured'' Dallas Morning News ''Wildly entertaining'' Booklist (starred review) These bonobos are no ordinary apes. Like others of their species, they are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships - but, unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language. Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn''t understand people, but animals she gets, especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she''s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what''s really going on inside. When an explosion tears apart the lab, severly injuring Isabel and ''liberating'' the apes to an unknown destination, John''s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime.

Když osudem zkoušený Jacob Jankowski naskočí do projíždějícího vlaku, netuší, že vstupuje do světa podivínů, tuláků a klaunů – do třetiřadého cirkusu, který se během velké hospodářské krize snaží za každou cenu přežít a noc co noc se potácí z města do města, aby stihl svou další štaci v nikdy nekončící řadě úmorných představení. Jacob, student veteriny, dostane na starost péči o cirkusový zvěřinec, kde se seznámí s krasojezdkyní Marlenou, manželkou charismatického, ale násilnického cvičitele zvířat Augusta. Setká se také se slonicí Rosie, která měla být pro upadající cirkus želízkem v ohni, zdá se však dokonale nevycvičitelná. Mimořádné pouto, které mezi Jacobem, Marlenou a Rosie vznikne, je nakonec pro všechny tři jedinou nadějí na přežití. Předloha stejnojmenného filmu s Reese Witherspoonovou, Robertem Pattinsonem a Christophem Waltzem.

Fin de año, 1944. Para Maddie y Ellis Hyde, un joven matrimonio de clase alta de Filadelfia, la guerra y la privación son conceptos lejanos. A Ellis sólo le interesa divertirse gracias al dinero que recibe de su padre. Pero cuando el viejo general Hyde suspende su asignación, Ellis decide recuperar el favor de su padre retomando el proyecto en el que éste fracasó años atrás: encontrar al famoso monstruo del lago Ness. A pesar de las quejas de Maddie, y acompañados por su inseparable amigo Hank, los tres parten hacia Escocia y se instalan en un pequeño hotel rural, sin ninguno de los lujos que tan bien conocen. Ajenos a todo, cada día los dos hombres salen a buscar al mítico monstruo, mientras otro monstruo, Hitler, está arrasando Europa. Maddie, sola la mayor parte del tiempo en un país extranjero, rodeada de desconocidos, debe comenzar a preguntarse quién es y qué quiere en realidad. Apasionante y conmovedora, El agua de la vida narra una intensa historia de amor, pero también el despertar de una joven privilegiada que, a medida que va experimentando lo que sucede a su alrededor, aprende a entregarse a los demás como nunca antes lo había hecho.

Roman psychologique (intime). Roman familial.

Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope.

我九十岁,或者九十三岁,不是九十就是九十三。当你五岁的时候,自己几岁零几个月都了然于心。即使年过二十,你也把岁数记得一清二楚。你会说我二十三岁,二十七岁。可是到了三十来岁,怪事便发生了。一开始不过是一时的语塞,片刻的迟疑。“你几岁?”“噢,我——”你信心满满脱口而出,又蓦然噤声。你本来要说三十三岁,但你不是三十三,而是三十五......