Rosy Is My Relative, Gerald Durell

Oh Rosy, Rosy, Rosy!

I've seen my fair share of drunken relatives, but none would compare to Rosy – none as merry and as unwittingly destructive!

It’s 7 in the morning. That time of the day when Adrian views himself in the mirror and bemoans his supremely dull existence. He's lived 30 years without perhaps a single day of excitement. But this fateful morning, things are about to change.

Adrian receives a letter from his long-lost uncle Amos, who has written to inform that he has just bequeathed Adrian a relative by the name of Rosy, along with a sum of money for her upkeep. He has also categorically asked Adrian to watch Rosy's alcohol consumption.

Adrian is perplexed, no doubt, by the unusual turn of events, but imagine his surprise when the newly minted relative, Rosy, arrives at his doorstep, and she turns out to be something beyond Adrian's wildest imagination. Rosy is an elephant!

What can Adrian do? Expectedly, he has no experience dealing with elephants, or other animals, for that matter. After much consultation and deliberation, he thinks it'll be best to give Rosy away to the circus, along with the bequeathed money. He plans to undertake a little road trip with Rosy to the coast where he might find a suitable circus. Adrian has no clue, of course, about what he is getting into.

True to uncle Amos' warning, Rosy has an incurable weakness for alcohol, and regardless of whether she's drunk or sober, she leaves a trail of carnage around the peaceful English countryside. Poor Rosy has the best of intentions, no doubt, but nothing like a hint of alcohol to induce errors in judgement!

So now Adrian and Rosy are on the run from the law in this rip-roaringly funny adventure. But the law is no laughing matter, is it? Only a matter of time before it catches up with them. This is 1960s Great Britain, and the law is a majestically unwieldy Jurassic beast.

How will Adrian and Rosy defend themselves?