Even with my list of "waiting to be read" growing by the day, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into Sara Gruen's latest book, Ape House. Gruen's earlier novel, Water for Elephants, remains one of my favorite books of all time, and I had high hopes for this book as well. Gruen did not disappoint; Ape House is going in my Top Favorites of 2010.
Ape House deals with many interesting subjects - Bonobo apes, reality television and animal activism, among a few - that converge into a thrilling story. Scientist Isabel Duncan works with a group of highly intelligent Bonobo apes at research facility, until an explosion in the lab seriously injures her and the apes are set free. The apes, who can communicate fluently through sign language, are sold off and made part of a reality TV show called "Ape House." To reveal any more would spoil a perfectly wonderful book.
Particularly interesting was the back story about Gruen's interest in the Bonobo apes. She learned of a Bonobo research facility in the Midwest while writing Water for Elephants. The experience of meeting and communicating with these highly intelligent animals left it's mark, and Gruen felt compelled to turn her encounter into a novel.
Gruen's Ape House will do more to raise awareness of Bonobo apes than any nonfiction account could, which I believe is part of her goal. But whatever message Gruen is trying to convey, Ape House is a great book - easy to read but gripping, and highly entertaining.
