The Tortoise’s Tale

A giant tortoise pursues an interest in people and human creativity over the course of a century in Coulter’s charming debut. Captured as a hatchling, the tortoise, who narrates, is sold to the wealthy owner of a massive Southern California estate, where she joins a menagerie that over time includes a monkey, a peacock, and a donkey-zebra hybrid. After keeping to herself for many years, the tortoise is drawn to the family who owns the estate by the entrancing sounds of jazz during a party in the 1950s. She befriends Lucy, the young niece of the estate’s owner, who names her “Magic.” While sitting in on Lucy and her brother’s lessons with their tutor, Mr. Williams, Magic learns about geography. She longs to be able to speak like Lucy does, while Lucy is disappointed when Mr. Williams is unable to say where in the world Magic came from. As the decades pass, Lucy remains Magic’s dearest friend. Meanwhile, the estate’s next owner allows his gay lover to transform it into a retreat for famous musicians such as Nina Simone. Throughout, Coulter evokes the creature’s wonder and curiosity, as the tortoise falls in love with music and gets to know how people tick (“You can learn a lot about people by considering what stories they want to tell”). Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Chris Bucci, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)