The Zookeeper of Belfast by S Kirk Walsh

The real-life story of Belfast’s ‘Elephant

Angel’ has been told before. Denise Austin, the first female zookeeper in Belfast, entered local folklore during the Second World War as she harboured an elephant in her backyard, and her tale has inspired a children’s book and the 2017 film Zoo. In this interpretation of the tale, Austin is recast as Hettie Quin, whose close bond with the elephant Violet is an escape from troubles at home. Walsh takes considerable artistic licence, but her goal is to tell the story of Belfast’s people during the war. The book is rich in detail – and when the bombs start falling, Walsh brings the horrors and emotions vividly to life.