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.

硃莉婭·斯圖亞特（Julia Stuart），英國新生代暢銷作傢、記者。在校學習法語、西班牙語和新聞學，曾赴法國與西班牙教授英語，並在新聞界打拼多年，1999年獲得國際特赦組織英國媒體奬期刊類奬（Amnesty International UK Media Awards ）。

本書甫齣版即榮登暢銷書榜，成為當年美國獨立書商的“八月選書”，也被NPR的選書人列為年度最愛圖書第一名。

斯圖亞特極擅長描寫戀愛中笨拙的男子。他們不善言辭，不懂得抓住機會，不會討人歡心、麯意奉承。胸中雖有柔情萬韆，卻無法宣之於口，他們隻會沉著臉，悶悶地努力，守護著自己內心的一方小天地。