The Elephant in the Room - by Eve Edwards

This blog is coming out on my book birthday - Dawn is dawning, so think of me singing a little round of happy birthday as I sit in my study.

For my entry today I've been pondering the plight of animals in war.  The subject has become a rich seam for authors and film makers.  War Horse is too well known to even mention, but just looking along the shelves of children's fiction you can hardly fail to spot them: Soldier Dog, War Dog, Shadow, A Soldier's friend, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, A Horse called Hero (see Sam Angus' blog on this site about her book), and my children's favourite, I am the Great Horse (a horse in ancient warfare by History Girl, Katherine Roberts).  I could go on.  Half of these are by the wonderful Michael Morpurgo who has really cornered the market in the animal + war story.  I will try to suppress my envy.  Consider it stuffed like the dormouse in my teapot of literary jealousy.

So when I came to write Dawn, the second and final part of my World War I series for teen readers, dogs, horses and cats were all familiar presences but what about elephants?

Research is a wonderful thing - a real treasure hunt for anyone with an imagination that latches onto the unexpected.  It proves time and again that real life is far stranger than fiction. My idea of London during the German bombing campaign did not include pachyderms but I found a by-the-by comment in Neil Hanson's The First Blitz that started my imagination off on a new track.  On one of the very first night raids, a troupe of performing elephants were evacuated from Chelsea Palace to the Embankment.  The animals belonged to Lockhart's circus which enjoyed a long fame since Victorian times, carrying on even though one of the original owner brothers had died in an elephant stampede.  (Can any elephant expert verify if the Wikipedia entry is correct? I would love to know more about the Lockhart brothers.)

Even in a world at war, the (elephant) show must go on. A writer is very unlikely to make up a detail like that as it is so odd, but I couldn't get these peaceful evacuees out of my mind, parading under the arches while the bombs fell around them.  (Apparently they were very well behaved and didn't stampede, unlike the time that did for the unfortunate Lockhart).  Elephants by the Thames.  I wanted to be there with them so my heroine had, of course, to encounter them.  The plot took off in a direction where she would cross paths with the troupe which necessitated a trip to Westminster Bridge and a charge of treason.  From little elephant acorns a whole story plot grew.

But these elephants didn't give up their hold on me.  They became a whisper in the book through letters and idle thoughts, appearing in cloud formations and generally adding a sense of peace and blessing during times of high stress, such as when the hero is in a dog fight - the aerial sort.  When I think back to the book, it is these creatures I see, trunks gently curling around each other as the Thames burns with the reflected light of fires.

Writing this blog entry, I see I have underestimated the presence of elephants on the home front when I did a search for working elephants.  I hope you enjoy as much as me this photograph of an elephant employed in a munitions factory in Sheffield. Yes, Sheffield.  Not somewhere in the empire but in South Yorkshire.  That gives me an idea.  Hands off, please, Mr Morpurgo, I spotted the elephant in the room first...

You can also read part one now which covered the events of 1914-16. No elephants but a chocolate Labrador does make an appearance.

A Book of Beasts by Kate Lord Brown

Choosing a book for a reading at the newly opened Doha Children's Library, it was hard to select from the well-loved, (read: torn, chewed, scribbled on), selection on our shelves. I narrowed it down to Slinki Malinki, Six Dinner Sid, and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Browsing the shelves of the library afterwards, it struck me how many children's books feature animals - and I couldn't think of a single adult book with an animal protagonist. Can you? The last ones I remember reading were in my early teens - Animal Farm, Duncton Wood, Stonor the Eagle, (following on swiftly from an entire bookshelf of horse books). So many of the great children's books are peopled with animals - Aslan in Narnia springs to mind, perhaps you can think of other favourites? What happens - when do we 'grow out of' books with complex animal characters?

There's certainly a long history to the love affair between animals and literature, going all the way back to the medieval Bestiaries. As long as there have been books, there has been the desire to categorise, to illustrate, to understand the animals that share our world. I remember a copy of Diderot's 1751 Encyclopedie in the gallery I worked for in London - the illustrations were clearly not 'from life' and quite fantastical. But then, imagine trying to describe a duck billed platapus to someone who had never seen one before.

One yearly December tradition is Masefield's 'Box of Delights'. I love Judith Masefield's illustrations for the first edition of her husband's work - stark and lovely: 'the wolves are running ...' It is a tale that weaves fantasy, magic and the 'real': Herne the Hunter transforming into a stag, a phoenix rising from the embers of a pub fire, and lovely Barney dog trotting faithfully at Hawlings' side down the centuries. 

Perhaps it is 'children's' literature, but I know a lot of adults who still adore the story. Maybe the best of children's historical fiction does this, transcending age - Michael Morpurgo springs to mind for his animal characters, like noble Joey, the unforgettable War Horse.

Writers and animals: 'Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this ... 

but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.’ Boswell on Johnson and Hodge

Admittedly, I am the kind of person who is as likely to ask after your dog/cat/horse as your human family, but recreating 'real' historical animal characters is tremendous fun. The newly finished book deals with a particularly tense few months in Marseilles in 1940, and the presence of Dagobert the faithful black poodle who belonged to the young American heiress at the heart of 'the real Casablanca' humanised scenes of the novel. The fact that 'the artist's Schindler' then adopted Clovis, a black poodle puppy, instead of rescuing the war orphan his wife hoped he would bring home to New York, spoke volumes about his character. That must have been an interesting conversation. 'Poo-dog ...' (yes, that was his nickname for her) '... I know you wanted a baby, but I've brought home a poodle.'

Virginia Woolf and Binka

I'd be fascinated to know if anyone can suggest adult historical fiction with animal protagonists, because I'm still drawing a blank. I can think of a few 'bit parts', and there's even a classic scriptwriting text 'Save the Cat' which reinforces the value of animals as a reflection on the human characters' strengths and weaknesses, (the thought being that if the protagonist shows his decency and compassion by 'saving the cat' literally or metaphorically, we identify with them). When so many writers work with four-legged companions at their side, it's strange that they don't appear at the heart of their fiction more often. But then there is ...

 Colette

 Beatrix Potter

If you are enjoying some pre-Christmas boondoggling, there are

more wonderful photos of writers and their animals here and here.

I've written with a succession of dogs dozing under the desk, from a rescued husky/MalamuteX in Spain, to an Afghan hound who had more in common with Muir's 'What-a-Mess' than a show dog. This evening there's a pencil stealing pug snoring at my feet, and a rescue flame point SiameseX draped across the bookshelf. All three of us send the HGs and everyone reading good wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas to those who celebrate it, and we look forward to reading and writing with you next year. If you write with animal companions, it would be fascinating to hear who shares your writing day?

August Competition

We have five copies of Sam Angus's book A Horse Called Hero, to give away to the best answers to the following question:

"Tell us your favourite novel featuring an animal as a major character and why you like it."

Competitions open only to Commenters from the UK, we are afraid.

Closing date a bit late this month, because of holidays. You have till 10th September!