Novelist Guy Ableman is in thrall to his vivacious wife Vanessa, beautiful but contrary, highly strung and blazingly angry. The trouble is, he is no less in thrall to her alluring mother, Poppy. Their provocative presence fills Guy's head with stories so wild he can't concentrate to write them.

Not that anyone reads anymore, anyway. Reading, Guy fears, is finished. His publisher, fearing the same, has committed suicide. His agent, like all agents, is in hiding. Vanessa, however, is writing her own novel. Guy dreads the consequences...

Our funniest writer at his brilliant best, Zoo Time is a novel about love - love of women, love of literature, love of laughter.