For my science fiction book club I read this novelette (note: a novelette is shorter than a novella). In the meeting I was surprised to hear that a few members couldn't finish it. I rarely stop reading a book - though there are countless unfinished books on my shelf.
Anyway, to the book. There are three plot lines told in parallel. The primary story is an alternate history where elephants are intelligent enough to communicate with humans. The elephants are brought in to US Radium to take over after the health disaster affecting humans. That plan is spoiled when one elephant kills the foreman, leading to her execution by electrocution (based on the true life story of Topsy the Elephant), which she spoils again through explosive revenge.
The other two plotlines are closely linked thematically. One is the story of the racial unconscious of the elephants, who maintain their history by passing down stories from generation to generation. The other is a modern day scientist who devises a plan to make elephants glow near radioactive sites, in order to provide a warning for future generations about the danger. The author suggests that humanity lacks the memory of the elephants, which leads humanity to repeat its mistakes. Interestingly enough this is something I had been thinking of recently: the role that community plays in distributing knowledge, skills, stories. The book does not approach why the memory of humanity is seemingly so short. Certainly, human communities build collective knowledge and stories and pass them down, I'm no historian but I'd presume in some cases for thousands of years or more. The loss of that community, its destruction, should be understood as a terrible tragedy, a result of catastrophe (war, famine, etc.). At the same time, it plays a rejuvenating role, leading to the creation of new communities, new stories, new memories.
The author could have done a better job at explaining the real life history, because it's necessary context to appreciate the story. I had to read about US Radium and the "Radium Girls" who were lied to about the safety of ingesting radium. Fun but also disturbing fact: I live near the location of the old US Radium factory, and several Radium Girls are buried in a cemetary nearby. A member recalled the superfund site and excavation of mountains of contaminated dirt. Additionally, the real life electrocution of Topsy the Elephant. And a member mentioned a real life attempt by scientists to make cats glow near radiation.
Overall I enjoyed the book, though it felt a bit trite, between the trope of a scientist's research being used for unintended and unethical purposes, and the orgy of violence in the finale.