Book Review: An Elephant in my Kitchen

An Elephant in my Kitchen
By Francoise Malby-Anthony with Katja Willemsen
Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan
325 pp

South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony saved animals who would have been otherwise destroyed. His book The Elephant Whisperer is a testament to the healing power of his love. The elephants never forgot his efforts to protect them in his compound, Thula Thula. Upon his death, the herd came to his home and stood in silent vigil for two days. No one could explain how the elephants knew that he had died, nor how for several years on the anniversary of his death, they returned to again express their love and gratitude. His wife, Franchise Malby-Anthony, continues to keep the herd safe from harm. Her book An Elephant in my Kitchen is a continuing saga of the mission to save animals who are perpetually in danger. Poachers will stop at nothing to kill these animals for their horns and tusks. Under Malby-Anthony’s leadership, Thula Thula expands to include an orphanage for infant elephants, hippos and rhinos. The elephants are gentle giants, but let us never forget that they are wild animals who can be as unpredictable as a storm at sea. Ubuntu, the Zulu  expression that means we don’t exist on our own and that we are never alone because we are part of a bigger connected world of humanity, takes on profound meaning. Deep emotional bonds are formed between animals and humans. An Elephant in my Kitchen is filled with the many faces of animals who teach us what it really means to love one another.