4 stars! This story takes you on a great adventure. I felt like I was really there & lived vicariously through the characters.

My favorite historical books are those that send me on a Wikipedia deep dive to learn more. While listening to the audiobook of "The Rhino Keeper" by Jillian Forsberg I did just that. I loved learning more about Clara the rhino, who spent about 20 years traveling across Europe with her care taker, Douwe Mout van der Meer. This novel alternates between two timelines - one based on the true story of Clara and Douwe, and the other of a modern day college student named Andrea who has discovered artifacts of their adventures. The Clara and Douwe storyline was fascinating and unique, offering a glimpse into a historical event I had never heard about before. The relationship between Douwe and Clara was so charming and unique, making this part of the book my favorite. Unfortunately, I found Andrea's storyline less engaging. Her character's motives were unclear to me, and her love interest felt forced, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of her timeline. Andrea's love and respect for history only slightly redeemed her. I was also interested for the modern storyline to explore animal conservation a little more and found that to be lacking. The author's note at the end did provide some good insight to this though!

Despite my mixed feelings about the modern-day storyline, I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook. The narrator did a lovely job, bringing the characters and events to life with their expressive reading.

Overall, I would give "The Rhino Keeper" 3.5 out of 5 stars. The historical storyline and the relationship between Douwe and Clara were the highlights for me, and I appreciated the narrator's performance. If you're interested in historical fiction that highlights unusual stories, this book is worth a listen.

Jillian can write. More accurately she can weave a story. There’s something special in the way her words come together here. This is beautiful

ARC Note:
I have been following Jillian Forsberg since The Rhino Keeper was first released, and I’ve completely fallen in love with her writing! Her ability to weave history with heartfelt storytelling is simply magical. And now, with her second book, The Porcelain Menagerie, coming out on October 21st, I’m beyond excited to see where she takes us next! If you follow her on social media, you’ll get behind-the-scenes interviews, stunning historical images, and—my absolute favorite—a little sneak peek at what’s to come!

Now, onto my Feedback Review:

Jillian Forsberg’s The Rhino Keeper is an absolute gem of a historical novel, and the audiobook takes it to another level! This beautifully told story follows Clara, a charming and unforgettable Indian rhinoceros, and her devoted caretaker, Dutch sea captain Douwemout van der Meer, as they travel across 18th-century Europe. It’s a story packed with adventure, heart, and the kind of history that feels like stepping right into the past.

Narrator Caroline Hewitt delivers an outstanding performance! She brings every character to life with such richness, from van der Meer’s unwavering determination to Clara’s endearing presence. (Yes, you will 100% feel like Clara is a main character, and yes, you will 1000% adore her!) The dual timelines blend seamlessly, and Hewitt’s expert pacing keeps you engaged from start to finish.

Forsberg’s meticulous research and vivid storytelling, paired with Hewitt’s phenomenal narration, make this audiobook a total standout. If you love historical fiction, compelling characters, and animal-human bonds that tug at your heartstrings—this is a must-listen. Five stars all the way!

I truly loved listening to this beautiful book. As I listened I wondered if this was based on a true story and I’m glad to find out that it is. This will definitely be a book I relisten to in the future and recommend. I don’t often cry over a character but Clara my heart hurts for you but I’m so glad in a way I met you.

When I first came across The Rhino Keeper, my initial thoughts were: 1) What a stunning cover, and 2) Rhinos? That’s unexpected. But as I read the description, I was intrigued—how could a book seamlessly weave together a thriller/mystery, historical fiction, and adult fiction? Amazingly, it does, and it does so beautifully.

Julian Forsberg’s immersive writing pulls you into both timelines, making each feel equally compelling. I was especially captivated by the book’s exploration of the deep bond between humans and animals—the sense of wonder they inspire and how that connection transcends race, religion, and socioeconomic status. It was profoundly moving, and I found myself in tears multiple times.

If I had one critique, it would be that the ending felt a bit abrupt. I would have loved a deeper dive into X’s (no spoilers here 😄) family history and how it tied back to the VOC, especially in relation to the museum’s future. Still, this was an unforgettable read—thought-provoking, emotional, and truly unique.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7306046785

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed it. The plot was really good, but I felt the present timeline lacked a little more detail. It very well could be I didn't understand it, but I was still wracking my brain on how and why it was a mystery 😅 The details were fantastic and Jillian's writing style was entertaining. The present-day timeline could've been beefed up a bit and I feel that's where the last 1.5 stars are 😅 The research that went into it though is 5 stars! Definitely picking up the books that were mentioned in the epilogue!

I really enjoyed this story based on a true story about a rhino named Clara and a Dutch sea captain named Douwemout van der Meer. The sea captain faces all sorts of odds with the sea crew (who are very superstitious and steal Clara's food), the society and government in Europe (who say Clara can't stay there), but luckily enough kind-hearted people join the crew and make a good journey for Clara. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an audio copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

** spoiler alert ** This was an interesting listen - thank you, NetGalley and History Through Fiction, for an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What I liked:

- The 1700s part of the story was more enjoyable, in my opinion. I can't talk about its accuracy, but it is based on a real Clara the Rhino who traveled around Europe with her keepers, and I think the author did a great job researching it and had more success writing this part because it had the good bones of a fascinating story already. To me, it was wonderful to look up some of the artists mentioned and see the depictions of Clara in their works.
- I liked Douwe and Zubin's characters. They seemed to be the most developed, and their relationship had more depth than any other connections in the novel.
- The historical part was also the "we read, and we learn" experience - I loved all the details about Clara's care.

What I didn't care for:

- Andrea is insufferable. She is so dramatic about the animals, taxidermy, etc - her being a historian, that reaction is weird, at the very least. I think hearing about her reactions rather than reading about them exacerbated the effect and made it even more annoying. Would she not know that the relationship between people and animals has changed throughout the centuries and cultures? She alludes to that understanding yet seems to overreact or be traumatized every time she encounters bones, etc. You are a historian! Most of the history is bones now! It is okay to be squirmish about the outdated practices of the past or not be okay with the current big game hunting, but she loses her marbles every time she is faced with this issue. Does not feel very academic to me.
- And going back to that first scene in the taxidermy room of her boyfriend, whom she apparently does not know at all. A rich young man brings his girlfriend into his home for the first time and apparently wants to make a good impression on her while also caring about his parents' opinion of her. Yet instead of letting her settle (unpack? wash up? change into a nice dress for afternoon drinks with his parents she JUST met?), he promptly proposes to her literally on the couch in a living room (or whatever he called the room with all the trophies). This felt super rushed, and the fact that this TRAUMA of realizing his family hunts for pleasure was brought up so many times afterward made it even more frustrating. Give this part a few more pages - show us why Andrea liked Jake - she is supposed to be this smart, evolved young woman; what was it that attracted her to him? He could not be all bad all the time. Instead, it's one red flag after another (former plantation! weird mom! small dog being abused! he is a monster!), and then she is off to Holland to distract herself with a highly competitive internship. Right.
- On her first day there, she spills a coffee on a cute guy, and bam - she has a new love interest. Her chemistry with Lucas is non-existent, and I honestly think it would have been better if they had worked together for most of the book, slowly getting to know each other, and the spark had happened by the end of it to give her hope for more. Adding her lusty passages about him just made it weird. She didn't know Jake was a plantation-dwelling, dog-kicking animal killer until weeks before - she was willing to marry the man! And yet, she moves on rather quickly.
- I felt she was a bit prejudiced against Sergey. It is a Slavic name, and I get the desire to insert the Awful Russian Villain into the story (I grew up in Russia and watched plenty of Hollywood movies with your standard Soviet/commi/modern spy villains with thick accents - that conflict works both for action and comedy, I understand the urge.) There are also plenty of real Russian villains in positions of power right now. But Andrea's motivations seemed flimsy, and Sergey's story sort of fizzled out in the end. We don't really know why he cared and who he was, except for being a good stand-in for the bad guy of the story to redirect our attention.
- The same goes for Janet. She is upset about not getting enough credit and recognition, so she completely sabotages her academic career (and freedom) to steal artifacts and fly them across borders to a different museum? That's the main conflict? At this point, just let Sergey steal the horn to fund Russia's failing invasion plot in another Eastern European country - that would have been a better story. I work with university faculty, and this plotline seems completely unhinged to me.
- The hotel scene in London - please! What book are we in?
- The complete destruction of the London museum - why? That was just painful to read/listen to.

All that said, I am sure plenty of people will enjoy this book, if not for the modern part's drama, then for the well-researched historical part.

I debated on what to rate this book as. I appreciate that a portion of this book goes to Rhino conservation, and that the author had a note at the end pointing out specific moments in the book and how they related to the actual history, and that is the only reason it's 3 star, not 2. Unfortunately, I found myself annoyed with half of this book as I felt it was completely unnecessary. The story of Douwe and Clara in the 1700s truly feels strong enough to stand on its own. The modern plotline was superfluous, and did not add to the story in anyway. I was strongly considering skipping chapters that were set in the present, and I don't think the story would have been weakened by it. This felt like it could have been made into two separate books that were mildly thematic in that they both dealt with the same topic of Clara the Rhinoceros, but having them smashed together, flipping every other chapter, was completely disjointed. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job, especially with differentiating between all of the voices and accents that were represented. I listened to this audiobook through NetGalley.

I enjoyed Dowes part and of course Clara but omg Andrea. Simply could not stand this uppity judgmental know-it-all. I started skipping her parts.

The first thing I have to say is what a gorgeous cover!

Now on to the actual review. This book was interesting, I enjoyed the FMC and I enjoyed how she stood up for what she believed and did not accept red flags in a relationship. Too many books now show women accepting red flags in abusive relationships and "loving the man anyway", this book did NOT do that!

The historical facts in the book are fabulous, an Indian Rhino taken from her homeland for entertainment yep that happened in the 18th century. From everything that is told it does however look like Douwe took good care of Clara so that's a win!

Now let me just say one thing...who the heck named that Rhino? Clara is not an Indian name and it just is such a silly name for a Rhino.

I enjoyed how this book was about the Dutch in India and not the British which seems to be the norm for books set in that time period in India. We learn a bit about the Dutch colonial rule in India and gives just that small glimpse of that time.

I will say there were flaws though, Zubin's tone when speaking to Douwe as a boy in his position was not deferential enough. This is a time period when people were segregated by their jobs and rankings and the lower class people simply did not just spout off to their betters.

There were also major issues with the statue the characters declare it to be Durga but the image is of Kali, yes both are avatars of the same goddess but the physical attributes of each are very different and cannot be confused.

This book IS an overly romanticised portrayal of colonialism. Not a single derogatory remark or harsh action is taken against Zubin by virtue of his racial background, and every Indian met being approached by whites as an equal, NOT in the 1800's that's for sure!

The character development for the time period is weak. Only the barest of details about their personalities makes it hard to feel any depth when they speak. I also didn't understand why the team of researchers were surprised that exotic animals were carried off by traders for the entertainment of the wealthy, even a student knows these things happened so someone who is a professional historian darn well should know that fact.

The biggest of all flaws in my opinion is the telling instead of showing in both timelines. You would suddenly get a random bit of information about an outfit or physical trait, even in conversations which breaks the flow of the scene. And in the historical side of the story there is an overtelling of clothing and architecture details.

All in all an enjoyable book, but I only gave it 3 stars due to the issues I mentioned. There are more but I do not want my review to be too long.

Do NOT read the blurb on Goodreads it gives the entire plot away.

Between the Duology setting from present day to past and the love for Clara the Rhino. The mystery of who Clara is and her travels as well as was she well loved kept me on the edge of the seat. Plus running themes of misogyny, found family and classism. This book was well done

I was privileged to be offered the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of this book on NetGalley and what a joy it was! It is a beautifully written tale with a real sense of place. The many settings of the tale are lyrically described and I shall be able to picture ‘tangerine skies’ for some time to come. It spans the two timelines of the two main characters. Douwemout van der Meer was a real Dutch sea captain who travelled around Europe with a rhinoceros named Clara at a time when Europeans had never seen a rhinoceros and many didn’t even believe they existed. Andrea is not based on a real person but she is a university student studying in Leiden in the Netherlands in the modern day timeline.
The two timelines are interwoven with Andrea piecing together information based on the historical artefacts and documents that she comes across, she tries to work out what Douwe’s motives for having Clara could have been, why did he bring her away from her natural environment. She wonders what possible reason could he have for transporting her on board ship to Europe and how could he possibly have had her best interests at heart. Alongside this we hear of Douwe’s experiences of a dangerous sea voyage with Clara and the difficulties and practicalities of travelling around Europe with a growing rhino. Many people’s lives are enriched through contact with Clara but there are also those who greet this ‘wonder’ with suspicion and distrust the effect she has on people.
This is an enchanting story from start to finish, full of warmth and excitement. There are dangers and triumphs, there is anxiety and fear, there are friends and enemies but woven throughout there is love.
The excellent narration from Caroline Hewitt serves to enhance the experience of the story even further.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending this magical book and audiobook.

This two-timeline story uses the genre-blending approach of modern day characters engaged in solving a mystery with quite a bit of action in the Netherlands along with some fascinating fact-based historical fiction that takes place in the 1740s throughout Europe. This is a time period that seems to be often neglected in historical fiction novels so I found the story to be even more appealing. The story of Captain Van der Meer, Clara the rhinoceros and the boy who was Clara’s primary keeper is heartwarming and heartbreaking but also adventurous. These characters were so dedicated to exposing and educating as many people as possible about an often feared exotic animal and they frequently encountered tremendous opposition due to ignorance during the time period. The historical characters were well developed and as always, I appreciate the amount of research that the author put into the book. Her embellishment of the story is well explained in the author’s notes at the end. The story of Captain Van der Meer and Clara is fascinating and informative and I definitely enjoyed this timeline very much. I really saw no point in including the modern day (2022) timeline as it was a distraction from the history. I won’t include details but the modern story of Andrea and her triangulated love life along with pursuit of a thief just didn’t flow or add anything to Clara’s story.
I listened to the audio book and found the narrator to be very good. The accents were well done and the narrative was pleasing and allowed me to get immersed in the story.

This was actually based on a true story…which to me is …. Amazing!
Did I ever see myself practically in tears over a rhinoceros? No! But, here we are…

The Rhino Keeper is a dual timeline story. Present day and the mid 1700’s!

Douwe is a Dutch Sea Captain who strangely becomes the caretaker of a baby rhino. Zubin, a young orphan, becomes his helper and sidekick as they undertake traveling across Europe, trying to teach and show everyone, that rhino’s are not killers…

I’m not sure they fully understood that a baby rhino would one day grow up to be a FULL SIZED rhino…. But, it is what it is.

As we experience them ALL growing, you can’t help but form an attachment to Clara (the rhino) yourself!!

At the same time, Andrea is a college student who’s studying abroad in Holland, present day. When she finds a tiny piece of history, hidden in her dorm room, she shows it to her professor…. And, strange things begin happening…
And… we start learning about ‘Clara’ in present day terms!!

This was a very touching and emotional journey for me. And I never thought a rhino could possibly affect me this way!! 😮🫣

But, apparently, Clara did!

And the priests? Well, being a Catholic girl…I was very disappointed, to say the least.

I’m going to 🛑 STOP 🛑 right here. But, if this sounds like something you’d like, please give it a shot! You might be happily surprised, as I was!!

And the book cover… just… so pretty!!

#TheRhinoKeeper by #JillianForsberg. Narrated beautifully by #CarolineHewitt.

4 Big, Bold, Beautiful ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!!

Thanks so much to #NetGalley, #HistoryThroughFiction and #IndependentBookPublishersAssociation for an ARC of the audiobook **** which releases tomorrow **** February 14, 2025! So, look 👀 for it then!!

Thanks so much for checking out my review!!
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I really enjoyed this book, I'm a sucker for historical mixed with modern day stories and this one was well done.

I loved getting to know the characters, I loved how the mystery unfurled, and I'd definitely recommend this book to others. I also learned a lot about rhinos, so that was neat too!

Thank you for the ARC!

I really enjoyed getting to know Clara the Rhino through this novel. There was plenty of fact telling about her travels and trials along the way. I did enjoy the prologue with Andrea and her standing true to her convictions. It's always nice to see a female stand up for herself IMO. A even 4 star rating from me.

Thanks to History Through Fiction for providing the ARC of “The Rhino Keeper” via NetGalley.
This review is my honest opinion about the novel.

I enjoyed a lot of the content in this novel, such as the story of Clara the rhino and her journey throughout Europe. I wanted to like the story, especially the present day timeline of Andrea uncovering the rhino horn, but unfortunately, that part of the story fell a little flat for me. I found Andrea to be an extremely juvenile character, and I found myself waiting for the chapters that focus on her to be over so we could get back to Douwe and his journey. I really enjoyed his story, although I found the character of Lonnie to be utterly wasted. She was a fun character for about half of a chapter, and then what I expected to be her character arc was completely thrown away for her to be a love interest instead.
I also think this book lacks a little bit of nuance in regards to animals. The author's note was interesting about how Douwe likely had no ill intentions towards Clara through his treatment and what she was fed, but the idea of the novel can be boiled down to "people who like animals = good, people who don't like animals = bad." I think this is a little less black and white than that, especially when considering that Douwe and Zuben knew that Clara could not deal with the cold and yet they took her up to Europe and all around there anyway. This might just be me nitpicking though. Overall, I thought this was pretty well-written, but I could not bring myself to care about Andrea and her storyline at all.

Based on the true story of Clara the Indian rhinoceros and her keeper, a Dutch sea captain, who tour 18th century Europe on a mission to show people the beauty and wonder of a misunderstood creature.

Although the duo timeline was smoothly executed I just didn’t connect to the characters in the current timeline. I was much more interested in Clara and her relationship with her caretakers who were totally committed to her comfort and happiness. The dynamics between Zubin, Douwe and Lonnie was warm and cozy and I loved how three people from very different backgrounds developed a beautiful family bond. If heartwarming historical fiction is your thing, check out The Rhino Keeper!