Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh's Reviews > The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise

3 ½ stars rounded up to 4. Years ago my Canadian niece landed a summer job (how'd she do that - some places will hire anybody) as a tour guide at the Tower. To this day get a few cocktails in her and she’ll regale you (much to the annoyance of her husband) with stories of hanging out with Beefeaters. She adored them - so when I saw this I just HAD to read it. It backs her up - Beefeaters do have their own private pub where they pursue their favorite pastimes – hard drinking, tourist bashing and playing monopoly into the wee hours.
Picked this up looking for something original and amusing - didn't disappoint- I'm pegging it realistic fiction. I know, I know, but it's my review...A story of everyday people who happen to have unusual jobs all dealing with life's challenges in admittedly odd ways (hey, whatever works) without ever losing their admirable British stoicism. Julia Stuart juggles a ton of storylines and characters (prepare to pay attention) skillfully, I ended up empathizing with most of them despite how WEIRD they were.
Balthazar is a Beefeater assigned and ill-prepared for the duty of caring for a menagerie of exotic animals. "Out of the deathly silence came the mournful wail of the solitary wandering albatross that mated for life.” That it failed to settle broke my heart while the instructions “Remember to keep the lovebirds separated. They hate each other …”cracked me up. See the books like that, an admirable blend of melancholic drama & humour. His wife Hebe works for London Underground’s Lost Property office, actually preferred her stories to Balthazar’s.
Heads up, this is more than light fare. There’s a theme of loss woven throughout, with Hebe & Balthazar the loss of their son - a lesson on how we must learn to allow each other to deal with it in our own time and in our own way. Put me in mind of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – if you liked that I suspect you’ll like this as well.
Cons: While you’ll pick up interesting historical tidbits about The Tower I was expecting more about it’s famous ravens. So many fascinating stories surround these mystical birds yet they were barely touched on- huh (:
Humour bite: “Your mother is in India trying to find herself. God help her when she does”