When banker-turned-zookeeper Phil receives a package from his globe-trotting uncle Edgar, containing a large, golden egg, he’s completely baffled. The gleaming, oval curiosity is like nothing he’s ever seen before. And when it hatches into a creature that’s unlisted in any zoological reference book, he takes the bold decision to nurture the hatchling at home. But only after extracting a promise of secrecy from his mother, his uncle, and a female zoo employee who witnessed the package opening.

Others soon learn of the newborn’s existence, however. And with Phil’s love life unexpectedly taking off amid the drama, events at Meadowbank Farm Zoo veer from fantastical and surreal, to perilous and intense . . . all in the blink of a dragon’s eye.

If you love magical realism and contemporary fantasy, you’ll be drawn into this quite wondrous tale that features an unlikely zookeeper, a psychic, and a talking parrot, among other great characters. Mixing the familiar with the supernatural, this modern-day drama is an ideal escape into a world where strange and magical things can happen.