Having a chimpanzee as a pet is a dangerous and costly practice, but Colin McAdam’s A Beautiful Truth illustrates why this is so - in heartbreaking detail.
Told intermittently from the point of view of captive chimpanzees and then by an omniscient narrator, the book could be the story of any couple who buys a baby chimp. Good intentions mask their perilous ignorance, and in the end, it is only after years of a blissful cross-species coexistence that both the pet and his owners pay a terrible price.
It is clear that much research went into the descriptions of chimpanzee behavior peppered throughout the novel, and McAdam’s choice to write partially through a chimpanzee perspective allows the reader to feel like perhaps they can briefly see the world through the eyes of another species.
The tale he tells is haunting, and as suspense builds towards a seemingly inevitable climax, the reader hopes for the best but is sadly not surprised by the conclusion of it all.
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