THE ELEPHANT KEEPER by Christopher Nicholson is an Indie Next pick for August in the US, along with books by writers like Stieg Larsson, Karin Slaughter and Pat Conroy.  Set in the late 1700s,  the novel follows a young stable hand and his charge, a female elephant, as they travel from the Bristol docks to a countryside estate, and then finally to London. This poignant novel raises questions about sexuality and violence, freedom and captivity, and about the nature of story-telling, but most of all it is the story of an unlikely but wonderful love between a man and an animal - a love which has its costs as well as its rewards.

THE ELEPHANT KEEPER was published by Fourth Estate in the UK in January 2009, and is published in the US by William Morrow. Rights have also been sold in Holland, China and Taiwan.

The Interview Online is a new site devoted to audio interviews with authors and playwrights, with former BBC producer Nicola Barranger talking to them about their work. Christopher Nicholson recently sat down with Nicola to talk about his fascination with elephants, how he researched the sexual behaviour of the pachyderm and the pleasures of writing in 18th century English.

The interview is available online here.

Christopher Nicholson's biography page is located here.