I hate reading a book because of the buzz. I opened my e-reader and did a hard scroll, allowing the universe to decide the next book I would open. It stopped on The Rhino Keeper. Thus, I conceded it was time to see what all the buzz was about. As I opened the book I knew that I was either going to love this book or hate it. There was likely no in between. After three attempts at reading it, I moved it to the DNF pile.

I really enjoyed Clara the rhino's story.

The book is written in a dual timeline format. I had an eARC and an ALC. When I was working, I only had the audiobook going and was able to following the story and easy know which timeline we were in. I liked that the past timeline was from the POV of Douwemout who would become the Rhino Keeper. It allows the reader to understand the dangers they faced and how attached he became to Clara. The present timeline is from Andrea's POV. She is a college student who founds papers in a hidden compartment of the desk in her dorm room. She will a team from the college work to discover the story of Clara.

This was a nice, enjoyable read and listen.

I won't be reading this. I've tried multiple times and haven't gotten into it. Thank you though for the opportunity. If I read it in the future I will come back and change this review.

I love books which have a basis in truth, and this very much fits that criteria.

Back in the mid 18th century, Douwe is the rhino keeper of the title, and Clara is the rhino. Douwe sails the seas of the world, specialising in transporting exotic animals as ship’s captain for a Dutch trading company – exciting circumstances mean he ends up as owner of Clara, and tours Europe with her as a spectacle until danger and violence become a part of their lives.

In the present day, a young student Andrea is trying to forget her recent break-up with her studies at a Dutch museum, where she uncovers information about Douwe and Clara – this becomes a super exciting and thrilling escapade – grave robbing, violence and intrigue soon follow.

I loved the thrill of the story and all the adventure, it’s a fast-paced exciting read.

I was immediately drawn to the story as I am Dutch. The book was very interesting and entertaining. The way the book was structured kept me reading. The relationships that are at the heart of the book were endearing.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book. I loved the time period, I didn't know much about it or the history of Clara. I loved the adventure and found family. The writing was immersive and I found myself enjoying the sights and sounds of Douwe, Zubin, and Clara's travels. The characters were interesting as well as the mystery. I feel that the dual time lines worked well: present day at the university with Andrea and the 1700's with Douwe. I appreciated the author's note at the end.

“When people saw that the world was bigger.”

I discovered the Rhino Keeper in tandem with both the audio and the ebook version. I like the narrator who did a great job with the story, making it alive without taking too much space.
Like many historical novels, it has two timelines. I loved the 18th century one, as it takes place during the enlightenment, which is one of the parts of our History that fascinates me the most. I liked how the book questions the scientific discoveries versus the ethics about the colonized countries (people, art, but also nature and animals –among other things). That is what makes that moment in History so interesting in my POV and it was very well told in this book. I think I would have preferred the author used a completely fictional character inspired by the real one. I’m always uncomfortable with books that decide thoughts for people who existed but didn’t leave much of a trace. So I did as I often do, and decided to read the story as a complete fiction, and loved that a lot, thanks to all the paradoxes it addresses. There were truly many things in this book, but it was also very easy to read.
The second timeline –present tense– didn’t bring much to the story IMO except a slight put in perspective of the events.
In the end, the Rhino Keeper was a nice story, that takes place during my favorite part of History and is about one of my favorite subjects (Natural Sciences History), so I truly enjoyed my time with the book.

Thank you NetGalley and to the author for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I first became aware of Clara about 8 years ago, when my best friend published a children’s book about her, and her story certainly fascinated me so I was delighted to be able to read this adult version. It’s told over two timelines and, for me, I enjoyed the earlier timeline and its characters more. Although it was such a sad way for man and rhino to be brought together, it was certainly the best outcome for Clara at that time. Thank goodness we know better now! It’s beautifully written and will pull on all your emotions. Thank you to NetGalley and History Through Fiction for letting me read and review this book.

THE GOOD:
Told in two timelines, whereby the mysterious revealed in the modern timeline help reveal the past - a very effective method.
Fascinating facts about rhinoceroses and their behavior are learned. Seeing the magic Clara brings to the ordinary and royals alike is a joy.
At its heart, though, this is a tale of a man and his adopted son and their bonded love for this enormous creature.

THE BAD:
The reveal at the conclusion of the modern timeline is a bit twee, as the Brits like to say, and not just a little bit like a Scooby Doo episode. That said, I did like the modern characters. I only wish I was more satisfied with their conclusion.

CONCLUSION:
Excellent. Heart-warming. Fascinating. Highly recommended.

This novel recounts the story of an 18th-century Dutch sea captain who delights and troubles Europe with his rhinoceros, Clara. The novel sports a dual timeline with a GenZ heroine researching the archives and encountering danger as she uncovers this forgotten story. I found the historical portion of the novel compelling, and really enjoyed the thriller-like elements of the save the animal artifacts modern-day narrative. But the opening chapter with vulnerable heroine traumatized by her big-game hunting fiancé felt like an histrionic attempt to grab the readers attention—and fueling that crisis with him following her to Europe was so unnecessary. Maybe "victimized woman" pursuing their intellectual interests and "overcoming adversity" is a popular narrative in novels these days—but there was more than enough real drama in both the modern timeline and the historical narrative to keep my interest.

That said, I would recommend this book, especially to younger readers who might not have given historical fiction a try. And I will certainly keep a lookout for other novels by Forsberg.

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

True animal lovers will both love and hate this book. The bonds between Captain van der Meer and Clara are so deep and beautiful. Yet, it's hard to get past the idea that he carted her around and put her on display. Plus, he clearly had no real idea what he was doing or how best to care for her. He was just kind of winging it. Knowing that people knew so much less about animals and their care and their attitudes toward animals and their care were so much different back then is only slight consoltation.

The character of Andrea also shows a deep and admirable concern for animals and their care. She refuses to marry a man whose family hunts animals for trophies. Plus, she is determined to find and make sure nothing happens to Clara's remains.

This is also a story about bonds between people, and their is plenty of found family in it. Dowement and Zubin, the boy whose job it is too take care of Clara, become like a family, and he later forms a touching bond with Lonnie, a young sailor who is not what he may first appear.

There is just bit of romance but probably not enough to satisfy any true romance fan. Andrea forms a bond with her co-worker, Lucas, which later turns into something more. Plus, there is a little more romance especially toward the end of the book. However, the limited amount of romance seems right for this book. It keep the focus where it belongs on the story of Clara.

This is a beautiful story of love, friendship, and bringing wonder to the world.

The Rhino Keeper is split into two narrations; past and present. Personally, I found a big difference in the two stories. The present story felt like a plot device to uncover the past. I didn't particularly engage with the characters, found the plot to be dramatic in a way it didn't need to be, and some of the characters actions felt rather random.

But the past... Oh this was such a gorgeous tale. I laughed and I cried. The sheer joy Douwe feels being in Clara's presence echoes from the page to the reader. He doesn't see a collector's item, but a magnificent animal that wants love and companionship the same as any man. The friendships that Clara brings - not just her own, but from those drawn by her enticing presence - are the kind of bonds that leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling while reading about.

While Douwe brings excitement around Europe as he tours with Clara, it's not all a happy tale. As it unfolds, there are moments of heartbreak towards the end that wrecked me emotionally.

If you focus on the past, The Rhino Keeper, for me, was a tale of family. How parenthood can be found in the most unsuspecting of places and how simple things can bring pleasure. The past was the true story, with the present acting as the glue to hold the book together. A truly entrancing tale.

I received the book as an ARC from NetGalley.

The Rhino Keeper covers two time periods – the 18th Century and current time. The historic part of the novel is based on the true story of Clara, an Indian rhinoceros. The modern chapters of the story show the important work done by archeologists and other scientists as they work with artifacts to uncover the secrets of the past.

As an American student studying in Holland, Andrea finds historical documents featuring the likeness of a rhinoceros. As she and the team investigate further, they discover a link to the grave of Douwemout van der Meer, a Dutch sea captain.

In the 18th Century, Douwe takes Clara, the only rhino in Europe, on tour. Crowds, including royalty, are thrilled and pay to pet and feed her. She is extremely tame and loves the attention. Unfortunately, while most people love Clara, there is a priest who sees her as an idol drawing the citizenry away from religion.

I loved Clara and reading about her was a special look into this fascinating and endangered species.

Thanks to NetGalley and History Through Fiction for this ebook ARC in return for my honest review

Debut author, Jillian Forsberg, hits the correct blend of history and creative fiction in her book about the life and times of Clara an Indian Rhinoceros and her owner Captain Douwemout van der Meer and youthful friend Zubin. Based on the historical story of a baby Rhino that was purchased by Douwe, along with Clara's stable boy Zubin, and their exploits as Clara was exhibited throughout Europe in the 1740's, this dual time-line book delves into the treatment of animals, and the rhino/human attachment that was formed during Clara's lifetime. After purchasing Clara, Douwe and Zubin depart on a whirlwind trip to Leiden in the Netherlands, and after a period of time there, they tour Europe delighting crowds and Royalty wherever they go. They also are despised by a Catholic priest, Gregor, who hounds them in his attempt to harm Clara who he feels is an instrument of the devil to distract people from the church. The current day story has to do with young American intern who is assisting the University in Leiden in the preservation of graves, and stumbles upon previously unknown broadsides from the 18th century, as well as the grave of Douwe. While this is an interesting diversion, the actual story of Clara, Douwe and Zubin carries the day, and you shed a tear upon Clara's demise and realize how much she meant to Douwe, Zubin and the many others who came in contact with the only living rhinoceros in Europe. A very good effort by Jillian Forsberg that humanizes Clara and allows us to follow along on her extraordinary adventures.

This book was so beautiful! I don't normally love dual perspectives, especially those with a huge time jump in between, but it was easy to keep up with the story and the characters, and Clara was hard not to love. I am interested to look more into History Through Fiction, because I had not heard of it before, but this book was such a delight!

This was an absolutely delightful, fun, and cozy book. Even though one of the main characters, Andrea, was a college student, it did read a little bit like YA. It was fun to follow Clara, the rhino, and Duwe's story. I really loved the animal rights aspect of this book. I will admit that the end was a little bit silly, but that does tend to be the case with "cozy" books. Overall, this was an enjoyable story and it had me hooked all the way through.

The description of this book captured my imagination along with the beautiful cover and dual timeline that the story itself is presented through. Books like this always remind me how much we can learn through history and by opening up our imagination to the lives of those who were rarely written about in the history books. There much about Clare's story that resonated with me in terms of religion, love, and most important of all animal protection and exploitation.

In The Rhino Keeper, Jillian Forsberg spins a charming tale full of adventure, discovery, mystery, and heart based on the true story of a Dutch sea captain who travelled across 18th century Europe with Clara the Indian rhinoceros; this historical fiction novel might not feature any real magic, but it’s just as entrancing as the most mystical fairy tales, myths and legends.

As a proud Dutchwoman, The Rhino Keeper’s Dutch roots immediately caught my interest, and I found myself stunned to have never heard of Clara the rhinoceros despite the fact that I have been hammered over the head with this time period in history classes at school. Though, as excited as I was to dig into this story, I have to admit that I was just as nervous; not only was I wary of how authentically Forsberg would be able to depict Dutch culture, but there’s obviously also the big elephant (or in this case maybe we could say rhino) in the room regarding my country’s dark and devastating colonial history.

Now, as soon as I started The Rhino Keeper, many of my concerns flew straight out the window. Forsberg’s passion and intellect just bleed through the pages, and her warmly welcoming prose immediately pulled me in and transported me back and forth in time through the smoothly executed dual timeline set 300 years apart. The incredible story of Douwemout van der Meer and his beloved rhinoceros, Clara the two-ton queen, just unfolded in an inexplicably captivating way, filling me with equal parts wonder, fear, excitement, and beautifully bittersweet heartache.

It’s remarkable to me how Forsberg brought both eras to life in such an immersive way, especially through the seamless shifts in prose style to fit the sensibilities of the historical and the modern timeperiod. Moreover, I was really impressed with the authentic and honest way that Dutch culture and history was depicted, and I just loved meeting so many (in)famous historical figures as we travelled through space and time with Douwe and Andrea. Though, I do have to admit that I felt like the balance between the two perspectives was maybe a bit off, and I found myself infinitely more invested and engaged in Douwe’s life than in Andrea’s.

See, while I really admired Andrea for her unapologetic passion, ferocity and resilience, I felt like she was more of a vessel to explore the themes of animal’s rights, women’s rights, and the importance of historical preservation rather than an actually full-fleshed and three-dimensional character. And while I deeply appreciate and fiercely support those themes, I felt like her chapters were just too short to explore them with the depth and nuance they deserve.

All that said, the story of the eponymous rhino keeper absolutely shines, and I ultimately loved how both storylines connected and interweaved. Douwe quickly proved to be an incredibly endearing and admirable man, despite (or maybe especially because of) the fact that he is anything but a perfectly flawless hero. And whereas the side characters in Andrea’s timeline all fell quite flat for me, I absolutely adored the unconventional yet wholesome found family that Douwe gathers around himself.

The dynamic between him, Zubin, Lonnie, and of course Clara absolutely warmed my heart, and I loved the level of emotional complexity and tender vulnerability between them all. Though as wholesome as they were together, it was also tragic to see them being under increasing stress and deadly threat from people who would rather see Clara dead to profit off her. Not to mention, Clara might have been treated like a queen by all of them, but there is no denying that their limited knowledge to properly care for her on their many voyages and travels was slightly painful and heartbreaking at times from a modern viewpoint.

This story could so easily have been boring and messy, but Jillian Forsberg just executed it all in an inexplicably magical yet thrilling way. Despite some of my quibbles, I think The Rhino Keeper is a very ambitious and promising (fiction) debut, and I can’t thank Forsberg enough for giving Clara a spotlight and bringing her into my life in this way. So if you have been looking for a heartwarming yet bittersweet historical fiction novel that spans continents and centuries, then you can’t go wrong with The Rhino Keeper!

Thank you to NetGalley and History Through Fiction for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Rhino Keeper is scheduled for release on 22 October, 2024.

In a Nutshell: A dual-timeline novel, with the historical plot based on a rhino being taken from India to Europe in the 18th century. Great story, average character development, good research for some of the content, too much telling instead of showing. Might work better for you if you prioritise the plot more than the writing style, because the (historical) storyline is truly amazing. This is an outlier review.

Plot Preview:
2022. When American college student Andrea, studying abroad in Holland, discovers an old document in a secret compartment of her dorm desk, she is surprised to see it mention a rhino, which is not an animal found naturally in Europe. While working with her team exhuming some old graves because of a flood threat, she stumbles on to another unexpected rhino-related discovery. What happens next?
1740. Dutch ship captain Douwemout van der Meer (known as Douwe) has often traded Indian goods and even exotic animals from Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) to Europe. But he certainly doesn’t expect being given charge of an orphaned rhino calf called Clara. Surmounting many challenges, Douwe manages to take Clara to Europe with the help of his Indian lackey, a Bengali boy named Zubin. What happens next?
The story comes to us in the alternating third-person perspectives of Andrea and Douwe.

PSA: Don’t read the Goodreads blurb. It reveals almost the entire plot!


Bookish Yays:
🦏 The prologue. It is so refreshing to see a FMC know her mind, not accept so many red flags in a relationship, and declare a vehement ‘No’ to the question asked. (If only she had stayed this sensible throughout the book!)
🦏 The unusual historical story, which is based on actual events. A part of me was heartbroken to see an Indian rhino taken from her homeland this way, but we can’t change history, only learn from it. No use applying modern sensibilities to the 18th century, when it was common for animals to be hunted for fun or to be shipped abroad for the entertainment of white Europeans. From all accounts, it does look like Douwe took good care of Clara, so that’s that.
🦏 Clara the rhino. I hate her name (an Indian rhino named Clara – sheesh!) but love everything else about her. Through Clara’s arc, we learn several fascinating facts about rhinos and their behaviour.
🦏 Even beyond the rhino trivia, there are many historical facts and personalities integrated into the plot. This makes the story feel even more authentic.
🦏 Douwe and Zubin are interesting characters. An unusual pair because of their differing ages, nationalities, and social status, but united in their fondness for Clara.
🦏 The reference to the Dutch colonial rule in India. Almost all stories set in this country during the colonial years focus on the “British Raj”, forgetting that the Dutch, the French, and the Portuguese (who were the first to arrive) were also present in India around the same time, albeit colonising relatively smaller territories. This story doesn’t focus much on the history of the Dutch rule, but it does offer some glimpse of their time here.
🦏 The ship journey carrying Clara from Calcutta, India to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This was in the pre-Suez canal days, so the route went around the tricky Cape of Good Hope. The voyage is captured really well, be it the navigation of the ship, the challenges of such a long travel period, and the employee and living conditions.
🦏 The ending of the historical timeline. Somewhat bittersweet but works nicely for the plot.
🦏 The author's note, which elucidates her writing choices excellently. She’s a historian, so it is not a surprise to see her get the historical aspects related to Clara and Douwe’s journey right.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🐐 As mentioned above, the research of Clara and Douwe’s story is impeccable. However, the India-related segments aren’t that accurate. Zubin’s tone of speaking isn’t as deferential to Douwe as a boy in his position would typically use. Moreover, no Indian servant boy would call Sichterman, his employer and a high-ranking naval officer, by his surname. There’s no word called ‘kanasmah’; the plot possibly wanted to use ‘khansamah’, which means ‘steward’ or ‘butler’. Indians are not vegans but vegetarians. (And this isn’t even true of all Indians. More than half the country ate/eats nonvegetarian food in some form or the other.) There is a subsequence related to an Indian statue, where all clues point at the statue being that of Goddess Kali, but the book declares it to be that of Durga. (Technically, both are avatars of the same goddess, but their physical manifestation is quite distinct and not substitutable with each other.)
I cannot make any declarations about the accuracy of the Dutch rep, but honestly, if there were so many errors in the Indian depiction, it generates doubts about how precise the Dutch portrayal would be. But one thing I can highlight: Douwe’s practice of referring to a married woman (and a stranger to him) by her first name immediately after their introduction seems anachronous to the era.
🐐 The historical story is the main attraction, though the plot gets somewhat episodic (and slightly repetitive) after a point, detailing the various places and people Douwe visits with Clara and Zubin, and the local reaction to the playful and perennially hungry rhino. The contemporary story starts off well, but functions mainly as a framework to keep the past story going. It doesn’t contribute much value to the overall proceedings other than that singular purpose of filling in the gaps in the historical events.


Bookish Nays:
🦴 Let’s face it. This is an overly romanticised portrayal of colonialism. Not a single derogatory remark or corporal action against Zubin by virtue of his racial background? Every Indian being met and approached by the whites as an equal? Impossible!
🦴 Andrea’s thinking seems to be rather black and white, and she is quite judgemental as well. Something about her character rubbed me off the wrong way. I didn’t get why she had so much trauma about taxidermy as a whole, when it is only certain taxidermy practices that are ethically wrong. She also seems surprisingly naive about the historical treatment of animals, especially considering her eidetic memory and educational background.
🦴 The character development in the contemporary timeline is weak. The content reveals only the bare necessary details about their personalities, so we don’t see any depth to their speech or actions. The way they handed the historical artefacts left me cringing. Also, it is common knowledge (at least among educated historians and archaeologists) that exotic animals were carried off by traders to Europe for the entertainment of the wealthy, so I didn’t get why this team acts almost surprised to learn such details. Plus, we get just the barebones of Andrea’s backstory, which is strange considering that she is the pivotal character of this timeline. Andrea’s mom is often mentioned but we don’t even know her name or where she stays or how exactly she is disabled.
🦴 There is a lot of telling instead of showing in both timelines. The random insertions of outfit or physical trait descriptions, even in between conversations, breaks the flow of the scene. In the historical timeline, there is an overdetailing of the clothing and the architecture. Plus, emotions are highly (melo)dramatized. It is especially odd to see words like ‘blushing’, ‘trembling’ and ‘shivering’ applied to (historical) men’s reactions in perfectly ordinary situations.
🦴 There are sequences in both timelines that focus on physical attraction between characters not in a relationship. These are quite forced in and awkward to read. Imagine being in between a serious professional discussion with your new colleagues and suddenly staring at a man's "full lips" and feeling “heat rise in the belly." If a male character had been written this way, it would have been a big red flag against him. Why are women characters allowed to get away with such objectifying behaviour? Romance novels can get away with such questionable writing choices, but not serious fiction.
🦴 The final section of the contemporary timeline jumps the shark by opting for a sudden swing in genre. This was out of the blue, and didn’t make any sense overall.

Bookish Doubt:
🤔 Can a body buried in the 1770s (in a coffin) last till the 21st century? I was surprised when one of the graves exhumed by Andrea’s team revealed an almost intact skeleton with even some patches of their clothing left. Considering that this cemetery is in a flood-prone area, it was slightly unconvincing. But I’m not sure about the embalming practices of the Dutch or the sturdiness of their coffins in the 18th century, hence this is a doubt and not a nay.

All in all, this is still a commendable debut that doesn’t overload my proverbial kitchen sink with too many themes but keeps its focus (mostly) straight. In all honesty, I am wary of books set in historical India and written by Western authors because the depiction is almost always flawed and/or whitewashed. But my curiosity to learn more about Clara made me succumb this once, and in this aspect, I was well rewarded.

Mine is an outlier review. The fact is that most readers mainly look at the plot. So the areas that I found lacking might not bother many, as the rating clearly proves. Most of the issues I had with the plot could have been resolved by a round of developmental or proofing edits.

Recommended (though not with gusto) to those looking for an unusual historical story based on true events and are not too finicky about writing style.

2.5 stars, rounding up for Clara.

My thanks to History Through Fiction for providing the DRC of “The Rhino Keeper” via NetGalley and LibraryThing. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.