Hannah's Dream

By Diane Hammond

($13.95, HarperCollins)



"In the Pacific Northwest, eccentrics are as thick as fleas, but even so, Max L Biedelman had stood apart." With this extraordinary introduction, you will either want to read this book or throw it at someone.

I chose to read it, and found myself in a private zoo in a small town in Washington State. It is here that we meet Hannah. She has been here since the 1950s, when Max Biedelman saved her from certain death in Burma. Max has since died and now it is Sam who loves Hannah.

The author develops her scenes so splendidly that the reader becomes part of them, watching with affection and concern, unable to predict how each will unfold. With each chapter, we learn more about the natures of both elephants and people.

While the novel revolves around Hannah, we recognize that individuals can change, as animals do, by the way they are treated and by the expectations of others. They may turn from clumsy to nimble, from dull to creative, from stubborn and miserly to philanthropic. Or perhaps they were always that way and merely needed a prod to bring out their better side.

The charming cover picture for this book is so authentic that you will be certain it features Hannah. Could this all have really happened in the town of Bladenham, Washington?