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An Elephant in My Kitchen

What the Herd Taught Me about Love, Courage and Survival

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An Elephant in My Kitchen

By: Françoise Malby-Anthony, Katja Willemsen
Narrated by: Roshina Ratnam
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About this listen

'The most magical book about the African bush since Born Free' – Daily Mail

'A beautiful love story between humans and the majestic elephants' – Jo Malone, Daily Express

Françoise Malby-Anthony never expected to find herself responsible for a herd of elephants with a troubled past. A chic Parisienne, her life changed forever when she fell in love with South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony. Together they founded a game reserve but after Lawrence’s death, Françoise faced the daunting responsibility of running Thula Thula without him. Poachers attacked their rhinos, their security team wouldn’t take orders from a woman and the authorities were threatening to cull their beloved elephant family. On top of that, the herd’s feisty new matriarch Frankie didn’t like her.

In this heart-warming and moving book, Françoise describes how she fought to protect the herd and to make her dream of building a wildlife rescue centre a reality. She found herself caring for a lost baby elephant who turned up at her house, and offering refuge to traumatized orphaned rhinos, and a hippo called Charlie who was scared of water. As she learned to trust herself, she discovered she’d had Frankie wrong all along . . .

Filled with extraordinary animals and the humans who dedicate their lives to saving them, An Elephant in My Kitchen by Françoise Malby-Anthony is a captivating and gripping read.

Animals Biological Sciences Environment Environmentalists & Naturalists Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Women

Critic Reviews

The most magical book about the African Bush since Born Free.
A beautiful love story between humans and the majestic elephants. (Jo Malone)
A must-read for animal lovers.
All stars
Most relevant
A story of resilience, tragedy and hope that had me sobbing one minute and joyful the next. This book has made an impact on me that I can’t even describe and will be embedded in my heart and mind forever, highly recommended.

Heartbreak and Hope

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Loved the story and the raw honesty. It made me want to return to Africa and enlist my support

Felt like I was back in Africa

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I enjoyed this book as a follow up to her husband's book, The Elephant Whisperer. This novel is about courage and the challenges that one faces when life turns changes so quickly, and it was inspirational the love and care that was shown to the animals of Africa, in particular the elephants and rhinos. It reminded me of how delicate and fragile life is for wild animals with humans roaming the planet, and reinforced that I need to do my part to show care and respect to all living creatures. I recommend this audiobook.

Stories of courage and perseverance

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One of the best autobiographical books I’ve listened to in a long time. I needed to have tissues close by but I also laughed a lot. It is deeply upsetting what they are dealing with, but it made me happy that people sacrifice an easy lifestyle in the pursuit of saving wildlife. It reminds me of the courage & commitment of Delia & Mark Owen’s in the Cry of the Kalahari. Francoise is very inspiring and I admire her and her team for all that they do.

Courageous & committed

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could not stop listening
captivating. true story and worth the time
life changing soul enhancing

Just fabulous

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