Review:

Book: The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart
Pages: 320
Finished: January 2011
Challenges: **Just For Fun**





How to describe this book? Quirky? Funny? Sad? Bittersweet? Witty? Gentle?

Yes! To all of the above. I fell in love with the two main characters, Balthazar, (a Beefeater or translated for us Americans, a Tower of London guard and tour guide) and his wife of 30+ years, Hebe. There is quite a cast of supporting characters---all equally quirky and trying to find love.

While they are all going about their business, Balthazar and Hebe are trying to find their way back to each other, after the death of Milo, their only son, who had been born to them late in life. When the story opens, Milo has been gone for almost 2 years, and it clear that they are both still very much grieving. As the story progresses, the reader becomes privy to the knowledge that Balthazar is harboring some secret related to the boy's death that he has never been able to share with Hebe.
Serving as a backdrop to all the relational drama that is occurring, there is also the story line regarding Balthazar's new job at the tower. That being the Keeper of the Royal Menagerie. It appears that the Queen is given exotic animals at times from other world leaders, and she feels it is prudent for several reasons to move them from the London Zoo, to The Tower. The quaint animals themselves became part of the cast of characters which I grew to love as well.

Ultimately, this is a love story, on many levels--the deepest being that between Balthazar and Hebe. It is the story of allowing a mate to grieve in their own unique way, and then it is the story of two hearts finding their way home where they belong.

Simply Delightful.