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Title details for The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart - Available

The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise

A Novel

by Julia Stuart
Jonathan Cowley
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.
Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise for the past eight years. That’s right, he is a Beefeater (they really do live there). It’s no easy job living and working in the tourist attraction in present-day London.
Among the eccentric characters who call the Tower’s maze of ancient buildings and spiral staircases home are the Tower’s Rack & Ruin barmaid, Ruby Dore, who just found out she’s pregnant; portly Valerie Jennings, who is falling for ticket inspector Arthur Catnip; the lifelong bachelor Reverend Septimus Drew, who secretly pens a series of principled erot­ica; and the philandering Ravenmaster, aiming to avenge the death of one of his insufferable ravens.
When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interest­ing. Penguins escape, giraffes are stolen, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives. Balthazar is in charge and things are not exactly running smoothly. Then Hebe decides to leave him and his beloved tortoise “runs” away.
Filled with the humor and heart that calls to mind the delight­ful novels of Alexander McCall Smith, and the charm and beauty of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is a magical, wholly origi­nal novel whose irresistible characters will stay with you long after you turn the stunning last page.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 10, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307751607
      • File size: 229813 KB
      • Duration: 07:58:46

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A bittersweet, whimsical delight, Stuart's novel fascinates, repels, and charms with every page. Beefeater Balthazar Jones lives in the famed Tower of London, with his Greek wife and 180-year old pet tortoise, amid shockingly despicable and often-hilarious indignities. Further complexities ensue when the Royal Family decides to move the Royal Menagerie to the Tower--under Balthazar's care. These exotic animals, gifts to the Queen, are the source of chaotic escapes and escapades, while the caretakers' ribald and sweet romance blooms. Jonathan Cowley strikes the perfect narrative pose as he complacently describes the characters' foibles. Cowley shares the improbable events with British equanimity and a delicate caustic tone. This magical novel is unforgettable--especially the wildly imaginative treasures that emerge in the London Underground Lost Property Office, where Jones's wife works. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 17, 2010
      A Beefeater, his wife, and their nearly 180-year-old tortoise live in the Tower of London, and if Stuart's deadly charming sophomore novel (after The Matchmaker of Perigord) is any indication, the fortress is as full of intrigue as ever. Balthazar and Hebe Jones lost their son, Milo, to illness three years ago, and while Beefeater Balthazar grieves silently and obsessively collects rainwater in perfume bottles, Hebe wants to talk about their loss openly. Hebe works in the thematically convenient London Underground Lost Property Office, and the abandoned items that reside there (an ash-filled urn, a gigolo's diary, Dustin Hoffman's Oscar) are almost as peculiar as the unruly animals (lovebirds not in love, a smelly zorilla, monkeys with a peculiar nervous tic) in the Tower's new menagerie, given to the queen and overseen by Balthazar. Passion, desperation, and romantic shenanigans abound among the other Tower-dwellers: the Reverend, an erotic fiction writer, has eyes for a bartender, and the Ravenmaster is cheating on his wife with the cook. Though the cuteness sometimes comes across a little thick, the love story is adorable.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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