The Only Harmless Great Thing isn't loud. It simmers. But it is just as angry as, say, And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead.
Bolander takes two historical tragedies, the execution of Topsy the elephant and the radium girls and remixes them. In her story, elephants can communicate with sign language and have been brought in to replace the young women affected by the radiation. Specifically, Topsy.
In actual history, Topsy was executed after killing an abusive handler. Here, well... things go a little differently. But the story still tells the truth of that history, the hurt of it.
This is a story of rare beauty, and at the same time, it is an open wound of hurt. It has bits of science fiction future and mythic past mixed in to tell the story of cruelty to both women and animals, of those who seek profit above all else, and the response to it.
It is not a light or easy read, but it is very much worth your time.
