A nonfiction war narrative rooted in the history of the Warsaw Zoo during the Nazi occupation of Poland, The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story follows Jan and Antonina Żabiński as they shelter Jews in the zoo grounds and in their villa while the city around them is devastated by war. The book combines Holocaust history, biography, and narrative nonfiction, focusing on daily improvisation, moral courage, and the fragile routines that made concealment possible under constant danger. Diane Ackerman builds the story through the Żabińskis’ work with animals, their involvement in the resistance, and the tension between domestic life and extreme violence, making the book especially relevant to readers interested in World War II history, Jewish rescue stories, and historical nonfiction shaped by questions of risk, conscience, and survival.
Author: Diane Ackerman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication year: 2007