The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise: A Novel
(Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover for "The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise"
Your Rating: 0 stars
Star rating for
Author:
Stuart, Julia
Published:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2010
Format:
Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Status:
Checked Out

Description

Brimming with charm and whimsy, this national bestseller 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.

Also in This Series

Formats

Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
Sample 
OverDrive Read
Sample 
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.

More Like This

Other Editions and Formats

Choose a Format
Available from another library
Available from another library
Available Online
Online OverDrive Collection
Online OverDrive Collection
Checked Out

Subjects

Subjects
Fantasy
Fiction
Literature
Humor (Fiction)

More Details

Street Date:
08/10/2010
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780385533294
ASIN:
B003F3FJI2

Borrower Reviews

Librarian Reviews

Published Reviews

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Citations

APA Citation (style guide)

Julia Stuart. (2010). The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise: A Novel. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Julia Stuart. 2010. The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise: A Novel. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Julia Stuart, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise: A Novel. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Julia Stuart. The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise: A Novel. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

Copy Details

LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection10
East Hampton Public Library00

Staff View

Grouped Work ID:
8d0ec5c2-0186-d9c9-d4ae-fa498a1b0cb6
Go To Grouped Work

API Extraction Dates

Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Mar 01, 2018 14:12:17
Date Updated:
Dec 06, 2020 22:38:56
Last Metadata Check:
Sep 14, 2025 04:57:45
Last Metadata Change:
Aug 04, 2025 02:06:57
Last Availability Check:
Sep 14, 2025 04:57:58
Last Availability Change:
May 25, 2025 06:28:26
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Sep 20, 2025 01:20:25

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/A6C/E53/92/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/A6C/E53/92/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780385533294
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 202125
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B003F3FJI2
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 202125
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780385533294
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 202125
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 030747691X
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Julia Stuart
title
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise
dateAdded
2010-09-17T10:17:51.22-04:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=242&titleID=452838
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: LION: Libraries Online (CT)
          • id: 1354
sortTitle
Tower the Zoo and the Tortoise A Novel
crossRefId
452838
subtitle
A Novel
id
a6ce5392-d69e-481a-b488-da52c42bcc40
starRating
3.7

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: TheTowertheZooandthe_452838
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 202125
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B003F3FJI2
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 8/10/2010
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: TheTowertheZooandthe_9780385533294_452838
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780385533294
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 202125
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 8/10/2010
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: family
      • value: relationships
      • value: Friendship
      • value: literary fiction
      • value: Historical
      • value: family life
      • value: romance
      • value: small town
      • value: sisters
      • value: book club
      • value: Aging
      • value: contemporary fiction
      • value: American fiction
      • value: marriage
      • value: Coming of age
      • value: family secrets
      • value: Death
      • value: women
      • value: Historical Fiction
      • value: Drama
      • value: Women's Fiction
      • value: Adoption
      • value: Divorce
      • value: Family relationships
      • value: grief
      • value: Contemporary
      • value: Contemporary Women
      • value: Family Saga
      • value: infidelity
      • value: literature
      • value: family drama
      • value: Literary
      • value: the Tower
      • value: contemporary literary fiction
      • value: family life novel
      • value: fiction literature
      • value: birthday gifts for women
      • value: Walter Kirn
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Stuart, Julia
      • bioText: Julia Stuart is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Pigeon Pie Mysery, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise, and The Matchmaker of Périgord. She lives in London.
        www.juliastuart.com
      • name: Julia Stuart
imprint
Anchor
publishDate
2010-08-10T00:00:00Z
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise
fullDescription
Brimming with charm and whimsy, this national bestseller 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.
popularity
324
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BPQEAAA20/products/a6ce5392-d69e-481a-b488-da52c42bcc40/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
    • shareInLibby:
        • href: https://link.overdrive.com/share?q=5ugGADHmp90
        • type: text/HTML
id
a6ce5392-d69e-481a-b488-da52c42bcc40
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/A6C/E53/92/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/A6C/E53/92/{A6CE5392-D69E-481A-B488-DA52C42BCC40}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fantasy
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Literature
      • value: Humor (Fiction)
publishDateText
08/10/2010
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780307476913
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
Brimming with charm and whimsy, this national bestseller 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...
accessibilityStatements
      • additionalInformation:
        1. NonColorMeansOfConveyingInformation
      • navigation:
        1. TableOfContents
      • hazards:
        1. waysOfReading:
          1. ModifiableDisplay
          2. SomeNonVisualReadingSupport
        2. summaryStatement: Accessibility metadata derived programmatically based on file type.
        3. conformance:
          1. NoInfoForStandards
        4. name: Adobe EPUB eBook
        5. richContent:
          1. id: ebook-epub-adobe
          2. legalConsiderations:
        sortTitle
        Tower the Zoo and the Tortoise A Novel
        crossRefId
        452838
        classifications
          subtitle
          A Novel
          publisher
          Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
          bisacCodes
              • code: FIC016000
              • description: Fiction / Humorous / General
              • code: FIC019000
              • description: Fiction / Literary
              • code: FIC061000
              • description: Fiction / Magical Realism