BOOK REVIEW: Monkey Love by Brenda Scott Royce

Brenda Scott Royce has got an intriguing job: she's Director of Publications for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and editor of the Zoo's magazine, Zoo View, so she was surely the perfect person to write a book the star of which is a ... helper monkey.

Yes, stand-up comedienne and odd-job woman Holly is the heroine of Monkey Love, but Tallulah the capuchin monkey (like Ross's monkey, Marcel, on Friends) is the star. Holly's got a great New York life, free Starbucks from her best friend and barista Carter, a stand up double act with her other best friend (and Carter's other half, Danny) and an apartment featuring a cat named Grouch and a snake called Rocky (Rocky the Boa, get it?).

The snake belongs to Holly's cousin Gerry's girlfriend who won't take it back. After stealing a pair of Robert de Niro's socks, Gerry himself is more interested in his burgeoning celebrity sock empire than intervening between his girlfriend and his cousin, until he needs Holly's help that is.

The rest of Holly's family is equally eccentric, from her Aunty Betty who shows affection by biting, to her Aunt Kuki who raised Holly after her mother's death and father's desertion and isn't impressed with the life she's chosen. There's more - including a cute man and his daughter, a mysterious writer, a soap star upstairs neighbour, frozen rats and a rabbit, but I'm running out of space!

What I will say is that I really enjoyed Monkey Love - it packs an awful lot into 300 pages. It's charming, funny, original and there's a twist that actually made me gasp (I thought I had it all figured out, you see). It's not quite as funny as it thinks it is (during Holly's stand-up routine, the audience was howling/bent double with laughter while I didn't even smile) but it's a really fun book and well worth a read.

The sequel, Monkey Star, is out in August.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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