Five years have passed since a mysterious millennial downpour spread infertility throughout the land. As the Fertility Crisis deepens, veterinarian Bobby Sullivan has other things on his mind -- he's on the run after following a husband's orders to exterminate a monkey named Giselle, his wife's cherished baby substitute. Sullivan finally stops running and opens his veterinary office in a small coastal town, only to learn he has not really escaped -- the town is haunted by the Victorian freak Tobias Phelps, whose life is directly linked to the evolution of events confounding Sullivan in the modern world. As a century and a half of logic, religion, magic, and science connect, two men. three women, and Queen Victoria's entire bestiary are catapulted into a wild and explosively funny farce. With spellbinding skill, Liz Jensen has orchestrated yet another brilliant black comedy, a gala feast of a novel.