The Zookeeper's War

The Zookeeper's War
	First edition
Author	Steven Conte
Language	English
Genre	novel
Publisher	Fourth Estate, Australia
Publication date	2007
Publication place	Australia
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	374
ISBN	9780732285166

The Zookeeper's War (2007) is a novel by Australian author Steven Conte. It won the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction in 2008.

Plot summary

The novel tells the story of Vera Frey, a young Australian who marries the heir to Berlin Zoo just prior to World War II. As the zoo's workers are conscripted and replaced by PoWs, Vera and her husband Axel fight to maintain the zoo's standards and to survive as the world about them disintegrates.

Notes

Dedication: For my grandmother, Marion Marcus, 1901-2003. With love and thanks for other stories.

Reviews

John Bailey in The Age noted: "Conte's prose style is unhurried and unforced, rarely indulging in acrobatic feats and only occasionally hinting at the journeyman status sometimes evident in first novels."^[1]

Awards and nominations

2008 shortlisted Commonwealth Writer's Prize — South East Asia and South Pacific Region - Best First Novel
2008 winner Prime Minister's Literary Award — Fiction

References

^ "The Zookeeper's War" by John Bailey, The Age, 28 August 2007

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[1] "The Zookeeper's War" by John Bailey, The Age, 28 August 2007

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