A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdams

Colin McAdams' A Beautiful Truth is a touching story, even if I did struggle to finish this one. Walt had been able to give everything to his wife Judy, a beautiful home, wonderful belongings and more. However, there was one thing Walt could not give to Judy and that was a child. A Beautiful Truth is told simultaneously from both the human perspective and the chimpanzees. Walt cannot stand to see the sadness in Judy’s eyes anymore from not having children of her own. There had been sadness in her eyes for years that even with all of the wonderful things Walt provided for Judy, just could not ease the hurt and longing for children of their own. After seeing a circus chimpanzee Walt is convinced a chimp could be raised like a child. Walt sets off on a mission to buy a chimp for his wife Judy in hopes that it can ease some of the hurt she suffers. A Beautiful Truth is about the meaning of family, the desire to belong and the ability to survive. Walt brings Looee, a baby chimpanzee to Judy. Walt and Judy raised Looee as they would have a child. Eventually Looee’s destruction inside the home prompts Walt to build Looee his own little home attached to Walt and Judy’s. Looee, having been raised as a human child is no longer like other chimps. On one horrific night Looee’s two natures collide and their unique family is forever changed. The Girdish Institute in Florida has been studying chimpanzees for decades. The studies at Girdish have proven that chimps have memories and the ability to solve problems, they can learn language and need friends, and that they build complex cultures. When Looee is moved to the Institute, he is forced to try to fit into the chimpanzee world. While A Beautiful Truth is an extremely heartfelt and touching story, I had a hard time with all of the “money business” throughout the story. The book goes back and forth between Walt, Judy and Looee and chimps at Girdish. The portions of the book taking place at Girdish gets extremely drawn out and detailed about the chimps and the testing, etc. being performed on them. It was all a bit drawn out for me. There is a lot of procedures done to the monkeys that I did not like. There is also alot of talk about the monkeys and their anatomy that I did not care for either. Anyway, if you are a nature lover or monkey lover, go for it however, if you have a problem with animal cruelty, you might struggle a bit.