Soul of the Elephant
When fifteen-year-old Hemit breaks family tradition by learning the mysterious soother’s gentler ways of training elephants, he unleashes his own mystical powers—powers his parents have tried to conceal, and which are capable of destroying his entire family.
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- WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award - Best Historical Fiction
South India, 1870s. At the family elephant camp, Hemit’s father insists on quashing their elephants’ spirits to gain complete domination, but Hemit believes the relationship between an elephant and mahout should be based on trust and love, not fear. When he stands up for the elephants, he and his father clash with devastating consequences.
Hemit ignores his father’s warnings about the mysterious elephant trainer rumored to use black magic to soothe rogue elephants. In secret, he befriends the elusive mystical, and learns the secret language and ways of the pachyderms. When he unleashes his own mystical powers to mend the broken soul of an abused elephant, a magical bond among healer, boy, and elephant develops.
Will his father embrace his son’s newly roused abilities, or try to quash his spirit, too?
“Rather like the man-eating tiger (perhaps a man-tiger) who insidiously patrols the opening chapters of Pam Laughlin’s novel, Soul of the Elephant, this book excels at sneaking up on its reader, solely intent on devouring him whole. Which, piece by piece, chapter by chapter, increasingly ravenous, it does... Within an intensely engaging, dramatic, compelling narrative, choreographed meticulously well by Ms. Laughlin, many delicious morsels are provided for meditative savoring. These include the formidability of the natural world, how humans relate to their parental world (and each other, and their animal brothers), and, wondrously, how our relationship to spirit flavors each of these interactions. ...a well-told, truly captivating story.” ~ Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews, Joel R. Dennstedt (5 STARS)
