elephants in the hourglass: a journey of reckoning and hope along the himalaya

A moving and adventure-filled tale of one woman’s quest for the truth about endangered Asian elephants and their evolving relationship with humans.

Delving deep into an intricate web of unlikely heroes, power struggles, and living legends, Elephants in the Hourglass takes readers on an extraordinary journey of discovery. In her non-fiction debut, Kim Frank blends personal narrative, vivid descriptions, and meticulous research as she illuminates the ways we seek to survive on our rapidly changing planet.

Like Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey before her, Kim is a female explorer who found her life completely changed as she was drawn deeper and deeper into the plight of the remarkable Asian elephant. For Kim, once she learned about the intense, multi-faceted, but little-known conflict between humans and elephants in North India, she was unable to rest until she had learned more and told this story to the outside world.

This was a place and topic totally unknown to her. Up until that point, Kim was an ordinary mom and emerging writer. After a fraught divorce, she felt a need to recapture her own voice and expand her world, and so she set out to the Himalaya with the goal of telling a story worthy of National Geographic.

What Kim experienced would change her life. It is far from a black and white story where the good guys and bad guys are immediately obvious. Not in this world of displaced habitats, exploding population growth, migration, and climate change. Filled with unforgettable characters and encounters with one of the most sensitive, intelligent, and awe-inspiring creatures on the planet, Elephants in the Hourglass will inspire readers to pursue their goals and be a force for change in unexpected places.