The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart is a quirky novel set in the famous Tower of London.

Our protagonist, Balthazar Jones, is a Beefeater (Yoeman Warder of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Member of the Sovereign’s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extrodinary.) 

He is given the job of keeper of the Queen’s menagerie, which includes all the exotic animals that have been gifted to the Queen from all over the world; including a zorilla, a Komodo dragon, and an Etruscan shrew of a particularly nervous disposition, to name a few.

What enfolds is a hilarious tale, intermixed with the gory history of London’s famous prison and all its resident ghosts. At the heart of the novel is a very tender love story between the protagonist and his wife Hebe Jones.

This novel is many different things at once and yet somehow succeeds. I found it highly entertaining and original.