The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE TOWER, THE ZOO, AND THE TORTOISE ABOUT?
Balthazar Jones has inherited the world's oldest living tortoise from his family—it's been handed down for generations. It's not the most interesting thing about him, but it's going to prove pivotal.

Eight years before, Jones moved into the Tower of London with his wife and son, because that's where Yeoman Warders live and work. Most of the world knows them by the nickname, Beefeaters. A few years later, his son dies suddenly. Jones and his wife, Hebe, stopped really talking or communicating that day—both wrapped up tightly in their grief.

Now, the Queen's Equerry comes to Jones and tells him that the Queen wants to move the animals she's been given by various nations to the Tower of London, re-establishing the menagerie there, and he gets to run it. After all, the keeper of the world's oldest tortoise must know something about caring for animals, right?

His fellow Yeoman Warders aren't happy about this at first—particularly the Chief Yeoman and the keeper of the ravens. Things go wrong pretty quickly with the animals in the menagerie, but it increases the popularity of the Tower, and tourism is booming. Also, it turns out that most of the Beefeaters end up enjoying the animals.

Hebe works in the Lost and Found for the London Underground where she and her officemate are diligent in seeking to reunite people with their lost property (very frequently odd things, it should be added), and will sometimes go to great lengths to do so. It is this strange little pocket universe they work in, and I was fascinated by that.

There are too many characters to list here—each eccentric in their own way (for example, the Tower chaplain, who secretly writes erotica with a sold moral core).

Around the time that the animals arrive, , everyone's life changes—some for the better, some for the worse. As the Tower's residents have to cope with the new arrivals, this collection of characters has to adjust to the changes rippling through their lives.

THE TONE
Whimsical, but never outright funny. Comic and yet mournful. Grief permeates this novel—for opportunities lost, for mistakes made, for the death of a son and maybe a marriage—yet there's an optimistic note throughout.

It's hard to pinpoint the tone, think Gaiman's Stardust meets Jennifer Weiner, and you'll be close. It's incredibly quotable, with some sparkling sentences (but for the quotes to make any sense, I'd have to go for longer pericopes than I'm comfortable with—so no examples, just take my word for it).

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE TOWER, THE ZOO, AND THE TORTOISE?
I really liked this. It felt like a fairy tale about the contemporary world and without any real magic (well, maybe).

You can't help feel bad for all the characters (with one exception—the book would've been better without them if you ask me). They're lonely, they're heartbroken, and they have no real hope of their lot in life improving. But they keep going. They keep living their sad, lonely lives until something happens to change things. It's kind of inspirational.

Charming prose, characters you sympathize and empathize with almost immediately, and some very strange events make for a good, entertaining read. At times I felt like I was about to fall in love with the book, but sadly, that didn't happen—I did like it a lot, though.