THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Malby-Anthony offers a book of great inspiration and wide appeal to nature-loving readers.” –Publishers Weekly

A heart-warming sequel to the international bestseller The Elephant Whisperer, by Lawrence Anthony’s wife Francoise Malby-Anthony.

A chic Parisienne, Francoise never expected to find herself living on a South African game reserve. But then she fell in love with conservationist Lawrence Anthony and everything changed. After Lawrence’s death, Francoise faced the daunting responsibility of running Thula Thula without him. Poachers attacked their rhinos, their security team wouldn’t take orders from a woman and the authorities were threatening to cull their beloved elephant family. On top of that, the herd’s feisty new matriarch Frankie didn’t like her.

In this heart-warming and moving audiobook, Francoise describes how she fought to protect the herd and to make her dream of building a wildlife rescue center a reality. She found herself caring for a lost baby elephant who turned up at her house, and offering refuge to traumatized orphaned rhinos, and a hippo called Charlie who was scared of water. As she learned to trust herself, she discovered she’d had Frankie wrong all along.

Filled with extraordinary animals and the humans who dedicate their lives to saving them, An Elephant in My Kitchen is a captivating and gripping listen.

“Roshina Ratnam gives a lively performance of Françoise Malby-Anthony’s stories of the joys and trials of sustaining the land of the Thula Thula conservancy in South Africa…engrossing and performed with enthusiasm.” – AudioFile Magazine

Françoise Malby-Anthony’s The Elephants of Thula Thula is a powerful, gripping story about an extraordinary herd of elephants and the woman dedicated to keeping them safe.

‘Somehow, the elephants got into my soul, and it became my life’s work to see them safe and happy. There was no giving up on that vision, no matter how hard the road was at times.’

Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula, and it’s not Francoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants . . .

The joys and challenges of a life dedicated to conservation are vividly described in The Elephants of Thula Thula. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned rhino Thabo – and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah – an endangered species not seen in the area since the 1940s – and finds herself rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining company wanting access to its land?

As Françoise faces her toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom, resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.