Ape House: Sara Gruen

The New York Times bestseller – of how six bonobo apes change the lives of three humans, from master storyteller Sara Gruen, author of the international bestseller, Water for Elephants.

These bonobos are no ordinary apes. Like others of their species, they are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships – but, unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.

Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets, especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.

When an explosion tears apart the lab, severely injuring Isabel and ‘liberating’ the apes to an unknown destination, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime.