The story behind An Elephant In My Kitchen

Filled with extraordinary animals and the humans who dedicated their lives to saving them, An Elephant In My Kitchen is a captivating and gripping read.

The bestselling An Elephant in My Kitchen by Francoise Malby-Anthony is now available in paperback and Audible

"The most magical book about the African bush since Born Free." - Daily Mail


A chic Parisienne, Françoise never expected to find herself living on a South African game reserve. But then she fell in love with conservationist Lawrence Anthony and everything changed. After Lawrence’s death, Françoise faced the daunting responsibility of running Thula Thula game reserve without him. Poachers attacked their rhinos, their security team wouldn't take orders from a woman and the authorities were threatening to cull their beloved elephant family. On top of that, the herd's feisty new matriarch Frankie didn't like her. In this heart-warming and moving book, Françoise describes how she fought to protect the herd and to make her dream of building a wildlife rescue centre a reality. She found herself caring for a lost baby elephant who turned up at her house and offering refuge to traumatized orphaned rhinos and a hippo called Charlie who was scared of water. As she learned to trust herself, she discovered she'd had Frankie wrong all along.


Watch the trailer of An Elephant in My Kitchen 

An Elephant in My Kitchen

by Françoise Malby-Anthony

Book cover for An Elephant in My Kitchen

'The most magical book about the African bush since Born Free' – Daily Mail

'A beautiful love story between humans and the majestic elephants' – Jo Malone, Daily Express

Françoise Malby-Anthony never expected to find herself responsible for a herd of elephants with a troubled past. A chic Parisienne, her life changed forever when she fell in love with South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony. Together they founded a game reserve but after Lawrence’s death, Françoise faced the daunting responsibility of running Thula Thula without him. Poachers attacked their rhinos, their security team wouldn’t take orders from a woman and the authorities were threatening to cull their beloved elephant family. On top of that, the herd’s feisty new matriarch Frankie didn’t like her.

In this heart-warming and moving book, Françoise describes how she fought to protect the herd and to make her dream of building a wildlife rescue centre a reality. She found herself caring for a lost baby elephant who turned up at her house, and offering refuge to traumatized orphaned rhinos, and a hippo called Charlie who was scared of water. As she learned to trust herself, she discovered she’d had Frankie wrong all along . . .

Filled with extraordinary animals and the humans who dedicate their lives to saving them, An Elephant in My Kitchen by Françoise Malby-Anthony is a captivating and gripping read.