Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise (Stuart)

The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise
Julia Stuart, 2010
Knopf Doubleday
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780385533287

Summary
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. (From the publisher.)

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Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Rasied—West Midlands, England, UK
• Education—N/A
• Currently—Bahrain

Julia Stuart is an English novelist and journalist. She grew up in the West Midlands, England, and studied French and Spanish. She lived for a period in France and Spain teaching English.

After studying journalism at university, she worked on regional newspapers for six years. She worked for The Independent for eight years. In 2007, she relocated to Bahrain with her husband, who is also a journalist.

Stuart's first novel, The Matchmaker of Périgord, published in 2007, is the story of a barber in decline who decides to open a matchmaking agency in the small French town of Amor-Sur-Belle. The story was inspired by a visit to Périgord. The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise, Stuart's second novel, published in 2010, is the story of Balthazar Jones who lives and works in the Tower of London with his wife and his 120-year-old tortiose. (From Wikipedia.)

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Book Reviews
[The] delightfully zany and touching novel, The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise, by British writer Julia Stuart, has jumped the queue to take readers on a fictional romp through the Tower’s realm…With her deft and charming style, Stuart brings this comic story to a satisfying and heartwarming end.
Washington Post

The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is the perfect summer confection—feather-light without being feather-brained. Julia Stuart has penned a work that is original and every-page amusing, and she's peopled it with characters that move into your heart.
Denver Post

Julia Stuart's sweet The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is a blessing, undisguised and undeniable, and apparent from the very first sentence.... Stuart's clever, amusing and touching story rolls along with wit and tenderness. By the time she concludes this tale at once contemporary and timeless, she and her characters—biped and quadruped—have won the reader's heart.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Tower of London’s the center of this hilarious love story about Beefeater Balthazar, his wife, their tortoise and their eccentric friends. As Balthazar struggles to save his marriage, the rest of the cast carries on in a charming tangle, and when Balthazar is put in charge of a Tower zoo, hilarity breaks out. Sprinkled with fascinating Tower lore, the book will steal your heart. (4 out of 4 stars.)
People Magazine

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 adorabley.
Publishers Weekly

Charming, witty, and heartfelt, Stuart's second novel is even more delightful than her debut, The Matchmaker of Périgord. A perfect suggestion for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; highly recommended
Library Journal

[Stuart's novel] is grounded by the moving central love story. This sweet romp will appeal to history buffs.
Kirkus Reviews

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Discussion Questions
1. While filled with humour, The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise has an undercurrent of heartache. Why do you think the author included the tragic element—could the story have survived without it?
 
2. The novel is strewn with historical anecdotes. Which do you think are true, and which do you think the author made up, if any?
 
3. Much is made of British humour. Do you think that there is any difference between British and American humour? If so, how is it demonstrated in the book?
 
4. Explain the correlation between Balthazar’s inability to cry about Milo’s death and his obsession with collecting rain drops.
 
5. Hebe Jones sarcastically states that “It’s every woman’s dream to live in a castle.” (p. 22) How is this statement not true for Hebe. What do you think is Hebe’s dream?
 
6. What is the main attraction between Arthur Catnip and Valerie Jennings? How are they a well-suited match?
 
7. How is the lost safe significant to Hebe and Valerie?  Is their any significance to the timing of when the lock is opened?
 
8. Reverend Septimus Drew seems to be a walking contradiction. Outside of his hidden hobby, what else is surprising/contradictory about his character?
 
9. All of the characters seem to be in search of something—whether lost love, items, loved ones, or animals. Who do you think is the most fulfilled character in the book, if there is any? Why?
 
10. Sir Walter Raleigh and many other spirits claim to haunt the Tower. What element do these ghosts add to the book? Is it more spiritual or superstitious? 
 
11. What is the significance of the urn that Hebe finds in London Underground’s Lost Property Office? Why is she so resolved to find its owner?
 
12. Explain how infidelity affects various characters in the book.
 
13. How does working in the menagerie make Balthazar feel closer to Milo?
 
14. What role does Mrs. Cook play in the novel? She is in part responsible for Balthazar’s job at the menagerie—how else has she played an integral role in Hebe and Balthazar’s lives?
 
15. What role does storytelling and letter writing play in the book? Balthazar won both Hebe and Milo’s hearts with his grand storytelling. Who else from the Tower is a raconteur?

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Quiz-for-Fun: Which character in the novel are you? Answer the following questions and find out who!

1. You are tasked with babysitting your neighbor's new piglets for the weekend when one decides to flee your grasp and head for the hills. What do you do?

a) Call your best friend who works at the local Lost and Found and report a missing mammal.

b) Sit idle. Pigs, regardless of size are too fast to catch.

c) Grab a handful of fruits and veggies from the fridge and head out to lure the piglet back to safety.

d) Grimace and wring your hands as you realize that this animal on the loose has not only delayed your finishing your latest bodice-buster, but also caused you to burn the treacle cake that was baking in the oven.

2. You are invited to visit friends in New York City and have some spare time before you're due to meet them. What do you do while you wait?

a) Stop at Alice's Tea Cup for tea and a scone and then ride the subway through the boroughs looking for items riders have left behind. New Yorkers must have some interesting things to lose, right?

b) Enjoy some shade in Central Park. No need to exhaust yourself in the concrete jungle just yet.

c) Take a leisurely stroll through Central Park Zoo. You've heard there are new chinstrap penguins in the Penguin House!

d) Head to the MTA office to complain about the rat infestation in the subway system.

3. Your boss just gave you the day off of work. How will you spend these precious hours of freedom?

a) Catching up on the latest town gossip with your best friend.

b) Work? I ve been retired for a very long time. Every day is a day off!

c) At the local pub. Every vacation day deserves its own toast!

d) Speed dating. There have to be some eligible singles out there with a comparable penchant for storytelling.

4. You're just headed out of the grocery store when it starts pouring rain and you don't have an umbrella. How do you react?

a) There's no sense in getting upset over a shower. You'll dry off and warm up with some tea when you make it home.

b) Piece of cake. My outerwear is always durable and I could use a good rinse.

c) Rain fascinates you. You don't care if all of your groceries get soggy; you're going to soak up this rain for as long as you can.

d) You pull your coat up over your head and hurry home to make sure the rain isn't driving the field mice indoors.

5. You just won a contest through your local radio station. You've won an all expense paid trip to any city/country of your choice. Where will you go?

a) Santorini, Greece: You love the history and heritage, not to mention the views!

b) The town next door has always intrigued you. You can only carry what's on your back, so the proximity helps you cut down on packing.

c) South Africa: You'll finally be able to see wild animals in their natural habitat.

d) Rome, Italy: You've always wanted to visit the Coliseum and hear stories about its classic battles and gladiator contests.

If you answered mostly . . .

A: You are Hebe Jones! Loyal friend and dedicated employee with an affinity for problem solving.

B: You are Mrs. Cook! The Jones 181-year-old tortoise. The oldest tortoise in the world. Congratulations; you ve earned the right to be lazy.

C: You are Balthazar Jones! Animal lover and collector of rain.

D: You are Reverend Septimus Drew! The Tower's lovelorn chaplain who despises mice and has a secret passion for writing well, you know

(Quiz and questions issued by publisher.)

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