The Dolphin House
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4.2 • 6 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Based on the true story of the 1965 “dolphin house” experiment, this spellbinding novel captures the tenor of the social experiments of the 1960s in award-winning author Audrey Schulman’s tightly paced and evocative style.
It is 1965, and Cora, a young, hearing impaired woman, buys a one-way ticket to the island of St. Thomas, where she discovers four dolphins held in captivity as part of an experiment led by the obsessive Dr. Blum. Drawn by a strong connection to the dolphins, Cora falls in with the scientists and discovers her need to protect the animals.
Recognizing Cora’s knack for communication, Blum uses her for what will turn into one of the most fascinating experiments in modern science: an attempt to teach the dolphins human language by creating a home in which she and a dolphin can live together.
As the experiment progresses, Cora forges a remarkable bond with the creatures, until her hard-won knowledge clashes with the male-dominated world of science. As a terrible scandal threatens to engulf the experiment, Cora’s fight to save the dolphins becomes a battle to save herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1965 and based on a true story, the engrossing latest from Schulman (Theory of Bastards) explores a young St. Thomas woman's connection to dolphins. Cora, 21, who is Deaf but can hear underwater, comes across four dolphins that are part of a research project led by Dr. Blum, a Harvard professor. Blum, sensing the connection between Cora and the dolphins, hires her, initially to keep the dolphins happy and study their interactions, and eventually to teach them English. Blum also orders the construction of a "homearium" for Cora to live in with an adolescent male dolphin, Junior. Cora commits to the work, both due to her fascination with the dolphins as well as her desire to keep Blum from performing dangerous surgeries on them. But as she succeeds in her tasks, she draws ire from Blum's colleagues, who view her as unqualified since she lacks formal training. Schulman does a good job describing Cora's experience communicating with her hearing colleagues ("She repeated her words, pushing the words out with her gut, trying to feel for the right level of sound in her mouth") and touchingly conveys her bond with the dolphins. This is worth plunging into.
