West With Giraffes is a novel that is based on a true historical facts and is captivating from the very first page. It opens with an aide at a VA home cleaning out the room of a recently deceased 105 year old resident, Woodrow Wilson Nickel, whom the reader learns is Woody Nickel. For the most part the novel is told in the first person by Woody both as he recounts his life as well as the events of the fall of 1938 as they are happening.
Woody survives the dust bowl of Oklahoma and makes his way to New York to live with his Cuz, who unfortunately is killed in a devastating hurricane.
Belle Benchley, the ground setting director of the San Diego Zoo has managed to procure a rhino and 2 giraffes from Africa. On the journey the ship on which they were being transported is is shipwrecked in the same hurricane during which Cuz is killed. The rhino is lost, but the giraffes survive. Riley Jones (referred to in the novel as "Old Man." was hired by Benchley to supervise the journey from the dock to San Diego. He discover the girl giraffe has a wounded leg and calls in a vet to treat her. Woody sees the giraffes and is determined to follow them to California. At the same time Woody steals a motorcycle to follow them. In a turn of events, the driver hired by "Old Man" turns out to be a drunk and Woody convinces him that he, even as a 17 year old, can handle the driving of the rig and the huge crate that is carrying Boy and Girl. Enter Augusta Lowe knownas "Red", young woman who is photographing the trek for Life Magazine, or so she says.
The novel moves quickly even as the journey moves slowly from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. over Skyline Drive and into Tennessee. "Old Man's" intention is to replace Woody with another driver, but circumstances create a bit of chaos and Woody convinces him to allow him to drive the entire journey. Red follows the rig in her green Packard, but there is something strange about her story that is confirmed by an encounter with the police and a man known as "The Big Reporter."
The journey is precarious at best with detours, low clearance tunnels and challenges presented by nature and nefarious travelers they meet along the way. Because it is a novel based on historical truth, the reader knows that the giraffes arrive safely in in San Diego. The novel shifts as Woody recalls his life to his post World War II life and his return to civilian life. He is haunted by the giraffes and the journey and sets out to find Riley and Augusta.
The journal focuses on Jones, Woody and Augusta, but it is really the giraffes that steal the readers' hearts. They seem so lovable except when it is necessary to protect their humans. Rutledge has given them their own personalities and they take over story as the go coast to coast. Throughout the writing, Rutledge stays true to language of the late 1930s. We read words like pipsqueak, Tin Lizzie, 2-bit, and dunderheaded.
A great selection for the book club and enjoyable read. On to Horse.
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