{"title":"Stephens Gerard Malone","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"jumbo-book-stephens-gerard-malone-9781774712030","title":"Jumbo","description":"A work of historical fiction following the prized African elephant who stole the show of the Barnum \u0026amp; Bailey Circus - and the hearts of people around the world - exploring exploitation, unrequited love, and the unbreakable bond between living things.  There was, perhaps, no living creature more famous in the 19th century than Jumbo the elephant. Born in 1860 and taken from the wilds between Sudan and Eritrea at the age of two, he was sold to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and then to the London Zoological Gardens, before becoming the prized possession of notorious American showman P.T. Barnum. \"Jumbomania\" swept England, embroiled the Houses of Parliament, erupted into open warfare in the British and American press, and monopolised popular kitsch and culture. By the time Jumbo sailed into New York City in 1882, thousands scrambled for a chance to see \"The Sun of the Amusement World\".  In this magnificent feat of historical fiction, Jumbo's story is told by Little Eyes Nell Kelly, The World's Smallest Singing, Dancing, Horse-riding Woman and Barnum's star attraction. Initially jealous of her gargantuan new co-star, Nell keeps a close eye on Jumbo and his reclusive and dedicated trainer, Matthew Scott. But Nell soon realises that she and Jumbo are simply two caged creatures in a circus and that Jumbo's confinement is slowly killing him. As The Greatest Show on Earth criss-crosses North America, Nell must brave greedy circus showmen, backstabbing trapeze artists, and the relentless pursuit of the cruel animal trainer, Elephant Bill, to keep the curtain from closing on her career - and her very life.  Taking readers from the deserts of Sudan to Buckingham Palace, to the manor houses of Connecticut and the dizzying heights of the Brooklyn Bridge, and every \"one-saloon-three-church town\" in between, Jumbo is a menagerie of riotous colour that brings Jumbo's incredible story to life, and a masterful novel that explores exploitation, unrequited love, and the unbreakable bond between living things.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49753654329617,"sku":"NGR9781774712030","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51049707929873,"sku":"NIN9781774712030","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1774712032.jpg?v=1772102554"},{"product_id":"history-of-rain-book-stephens-gerard-malone-9781771089791","title":"The History of Rain","description":"Literary historical fiction set in a war-torn Europe and glamourous Old Hollywood, following a lonely landscape gardener, from author of Big Town and I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin, the story begins in 1915. While convalescing in a French army hospital, Rain, a veteran of the Great War now raging across Europe, finds solace in aiding the buildings' groundskeeper. An unlikely apprentice gardener, he buries himself in this work. The bulbs, the tubers, and the soil care not that his face is now deformed forever. \"I say give the earth your rage, young man, and she'll give you flowers\", the groundskeeper tells him. And so he does.  In the ensuing decadence of the postwar years, Rain finds himself lured into the intricate and lavish world of landscape gardening. In demand to a certain upper-class clientele, he travels the world to create magnificent gardens for celebrities and, eventually for the pictures during Hollywood's Golden Age. But the nomadic nature of his work is also a way for him to chase his unrequitred love, Lily.  A sprawling story written in stunning, spare language, this anticipated new novel is a lyrical, magical, and starkly realist meditation on the dissonant worlds that emerged from the conflict, and the lengths we'll go to chase the illusion of love.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50481216782609,"sku":"CIN1771089792G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51306391994641,"sku":"CIN1771089792VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1771089792.jpg?v=1772102288"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-stephens-gerard-malone.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}