Coming 27 September!

A curious tale in thirty-one black and white chapters and eighty stripes

The Zebra and Lord Jones – Anna Vaught

Book blurb

A listless aristocrat, Lord Jones, finds himself in London during the Blitz, attending to insurance matters. A zebra and her foal, having escaped from the London Zoo during a bombing, cross his path, and he decides to take them back to his estate in Pembrokeshire. Little loved by his fascist-sympathiser parents, something in Lord Jones softens and he realises he is lost, just like these zebras.

The arrival of the zebras sparks a new lease of life on the Pembrokeshire estate, and it is not only Lord Jones but the families his dynasty has displaced that benefit from the transformation.

Full of heart and mischief, The Zebra and Lord Jones is a hopeful exploration of class, wealth and privilege, grief, colonialism, the landscape, the wars that men make, the families we find for ourselves and why one lonely man stole a zebra in September 1940 – or perhaps why she stole him.

My thoughts

Set in London but mainly in Pembrokeshire this novel brings together a plethora of stories but mainly that of Lord Jones who stole two zebras taking them to his family estate, Cresswell Manor, in Pembrokeshire. It is this, the reason for it and the consequences of it that brings us this magical, heartbreaking and heartwarming book.

Anna Vaught has written a highly researched and fascinating book about zebras, how animals are affected by man, how animals are wise (especially zebras and in particular Grérvy’s zebras) and should be listened to. It is also about how man treats (and has treated) man on an individual, national and global level. All of this is weaved into the most amazing book full of wonderful characters and packed with fascinating facts although perhaps some of those are not real facts you must decide for yourself. To do that will involve some thought, reading and research. Still you will be greatly helped by the footnotes and other resources provided.

Set against the backdrop of WWII we will be taken back before then in order to understand Lord Jone’s circumstances but it is this setting that allows the story of The Zebra and Lord Jones to begin since it is as a result of the bombing raids on London that the fateful meeting brought these two together. We will also read of the devastation to Dresden. We will read of the awful fate of beloved pets in particular of Rex and Ernest.

This is a book about love, what happens when you are deprived of it and whether you are able to find it in another place and how that might come about. It is about grief and how letting others, including animals especially zebras and in particular Gréry’s zebras, in can bring healing, peace and comfort. Indeed happiness and love too under the right circumstances.

There are characters in this book to dislike or pity such as the Earl and Lady Ashburn and their appalling friends. There are likeable characters too. I said earlier that this book was mainly about Lord Jones, Mother and Sweetie but it is more and has many more wonderful characters such as Ernest, the spectacular Annwen, Dai and Myfanwy, Talbot, Peter and Vera, Jenkins the Dry Priest, Haile Selassie! There are things that happen that will bring such sadness to your heart and tears to your eyes but through all of that there is hope, humour and love.

This book was a joy to read.

Thanks

Many thanks to Will at Renard Press who extended an invitation to be a part of this wonderful event and for an ARC copy of The Zebra and Lord Jones by Anna Vaught for review purposes.

BlogTour

There are excellent blogs who have already written about The Zebra and Lord Jones and more to come, why not check them out and then visit the link below to get yourself a copy of this amazing book.

Information

Published: Renard Books | Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-80447-036-7 |224pp | 27TH SEPTEMBER 2023

Buy: Renard Books | Your local bookshop |Your local library

Author: Anna Vaught is an English teacher, Creative Writing teacher, mentor, editor and author of several books, including Saving Lucia, Famished, Ravished and These Envoys of Beauty. Her short creative works and features have been widely published, and she has written for the national press and has had a column with The Bookseller and Mslexia.

In 2022 Anna launched The Curae, a new literary prize for carers. Anna is also a guest university lecturer, a tutor for Jericho Writers, and volunteers with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is the mother of three sons, comes from a large Welsh family and lives in Wiltshire.

The Zebra and Lord Jones is her third novel and seventh book.

Website | @BookwormVaught