The Secret of Elephants

By: Vasundra Tailor

Narrated by: Sharmila Devar

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Navsari, India. Penniless and trapped in a loveless marriage, Nirmala spends her days anxiously caring for her sick young son, Varun. Looming over Nirmala’s impoverished home is an imposing mansion built by her grandfather, and from its balcony her cruel aunt scorns them, refusing to help in any way.

But when a mysterious letter addressed to her long-dead father arrives from Zimbabwe, it opens a door to a past Nirmala never knew existed and a future she never imagined possible. If the contents of the letter can be believed, not only does she have family in Africa, but they might also hold the answers to a family mystery that spans three generations.

While travelling to Zimbabwe might lead to a brighter future for Nirmala and her son, it could also reignite the bitter family feud that condemned her family to poverty. Nirmala is ready to risk it all to uncover the truth, but how will she cope when this journey changes her life forever?

©2022 Vasundra Tailor (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Tailor’s thought-provoking, sophisticated debut is so engaging it is hard to believe writing wasn’t this UK pharmacist’s first career.… Listeners will ache for Nirmala as narrator Sharmila Devar imbues her, and all of Tailor’s wonderfully drawn characters, with genuine emotional depth. Devar’s nuanced performance smooths transitions from past to present while gradually building suspense toward a shocking climax. Devar’s performance of this riveting, cross-continental, generational family saga, with its sharp explorations of class, income, and gender inequality, should make Tailor’s debut a hit with armchair travelers as well as contemporary-fiction fans.”—Library Journal

“Tailor’s debut is both evocative and intriguing.”—Booklist

“The Secret of Elephants is a novel of beauty, wisdom, and discovery. Prepare to fall in love with Vasundra Tailor’s writing, I know I did…”—Amanda Prowse, international bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner

Couldn't finish it because of narration

I was excited about this book and looked forward to it, especially after reading the reviews. However, I could not finish it because of the narration. The narrator does so many different voices that simply are over the top, and it is quite distracting.

A must read!

What a brilliant book. It's a rags to ritches type story and very humbling. I could really envision the environment and feel the heat as described. I thought the voiced actor did amazing considering all the characters and different accents involved. I would love to hear other books she's read. Highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Very different from other books it was eye opening

The story was hard to follow at first but then it became a book I couldn't put down. A very good read!

Fun listen

Interestingly sweet captivating story. Fun characters and plot twist and turn. Family relationships (Two more words were needed to submit this review )

Great book, I really enjoy it!

Thank you, for the suggestion Amazon, this is a magnificent story.

The Secret of Elephants is the story of Nirmala's she spends her days constantly worried about the future of her sick young son, Varun, and being mistreated and rejected by her husband.

Nirmala was married to a very bitter man twice her age, someone who mistreated her and her son only because he thought Varun was weak and shamed him, he couldn't face him or even treat him well.

Nirmala really was a very bold and strong character at first she was very quiet and didn't say much about the constant harassment of her husband but after finding out the truth about some distant relatives, that was enough for Nirmala to finally take the courage and embark on a beautiful journey that will bring so much more light and love into her life.

Nirmala flies to Zimbabwe, with her son Varun where she will learn more about her past and finally embrace the possibility to heal her son and see him thrive.

Something that really made no sense to me was the whole society levels, how they really matter more than what your son or daughter felt. Nirmala was very strong and I was happy to see how she was able to see this and fight for her happiness and her sons.

What I love about this book is, the reader is able to enjoy the evolution of the main character to see her life unfold, and how she takes the opportunity to escape and build something better for her son and for herself.

This was a story of empowerment, this is one of the first stories from India, that I've ever read that the female character getting justice and not only by others but also by herself.

Great book I really enjoy it

The narrations by Sharmila Devar were amazing I really felt like I was in the middle of the story living every step of the way what Nirmala was going through and she even made the story more amazing and gave the characters more depth.

Endless

I thought I would never get done. Monotonous story and the narration was to die for….really to die because of! The male voices made me cringe.

Not for me

The fake almost stereotypical accent grated on my ears. And she still got the actual pronunciations wrong. The writing has some inaccuracies/incongruences that bothered me. I've not seen an ambassador car with a wood interior. Maybe they exist, but I've not seen one and I've seen and ridden in many of them. The concept of appreciating local produce in the 50's in India simply didn't exist. Heck it didn't exist in the 90's. Because for the most part that was all there was. No one had a concept of local being better. Most people didn't have refrigerators. And refrigerated trucks didn't exist, so you couldn't get produce that was not local unless it was something that didn't go bad. This book just felt fake, not authentic. The author definitely didn't live in these places and times which is perfectly fine of course. But she didn't do the research. And the story, after 42 minutes didn't really seem to go anywhere. Too many characters, none very deep. Sorry, I'm going to go read or listen to something more authentic like Thriti Umrigar.

Narration ruined this for me

I can’t believe e I finished this. The narration was just awful. I don’t think I can fairly evaluate the story because of it. So glad it is over.