Sara Gruen

When a family of bonobo apes who know American Sign Language are kidnapped from a language laboratory, their mysterious appearance on a reality TV show propels scientist Isabel Duncan, together with reporter John Thigpen, on a personal mission to rescue them. An entertaining book that calls into question our assumptions about these animals who share 99.4% of our DNA.

a novel

Ape house

Melissa Palmer

Book #51 Read in 2012
Ape House by Sara Gruen


I recently read Water for Elephants (I know, I know, finally!) by this author and loved her writing style. I immediately requested Ape House from the library and was not disappointed. I loved this book as well.


In Ape House, Isabel works with bonobos and has taught them to communicate using Sign Language. There is a fire in the ape location and Isabel is injured in it. By the time she is on the road to recovery, the bonobos have been moved and are now used in a reality show produced by a porn producer. He is hoping to score huge ratings by capitalizing on 24 hour visuals on the bonobos. Isabel is bound and determined to reunite with her "family" and enlists the help of John Thigpen, a reporter who missed the fire by a matter of hours after interviewing Isabel and the bonobos. They unite forces, along with some others, to get the bonobos out of the "ape house".


This book has it all--great writing, great characters (including the bonobos, who have very distinct personalities, twists and turns, romance and even some humor. I was rooting for the bad guys to get theirs and for the bonobos to have a happy ending. Now I have to decide which book by Gruen to read next.

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Peggy Walker

It's very difficult to go into a 2nd novel without any expectations. Water For Elephants was such a captivating book it's especially hard not to set the bar very high for a second book. I have studied ASL, my daughter is a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing as well as an ASL interpreter, so we have always been interested in the projects involving great apes and language acquisition. It all seemed perfect. The author states that she became fascinated with the Great Ape Language study centers and obviously did a lot of research. However, she couldn't seem to stay focused on the story she wanted to tell. Too much jumping back and forth from Isabel to John to John's journalistic career, to the back-stage shenanigans of a TV producer to animal-rights activists. I enjoyed much of it, but it was a disappointment overall.

Erik Wallace

This was a quick read and I wish it centered more on the Bonobo apes. There were a few subplots, like John and Amanda's relationship and also with Celia's punk friend that I thought could have been left out. There was enough drama with the primary plot.

Charlotte 

b.andherbooks

Totally different then Water Elephants, which threw me for a loop a bit (especially since they have the darn cover looking so similar). But, after I got into the story about the bonobos, I did end up enjoying it. Not one of my favorites however.

Francine Corry

Erin Peace

Caitlin Hooker

Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. Isabel Duncan, a scientist, feels more comfortable among bonobos than among humans, until she meets reporter John Thigpen. When an explosion tears apart the lab, injuring Isabel and 'liberating' the apes to an unknown destination, John's piece turns into the story of a lifetime.

Ape house a novel

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