Animal-mad, people-shy civil servant Norman Butcher cuts loose when his widowed mother dies leaving him a sizeable nest-egg and ramshackle Olive Branch Farm. At last he can realise his lifelong ambition - to liberate circus animals and let them roam free. Then uninvited visits from a wily poacher and an officious planning officer set off a chain reaction that catapults him into the headlines. Under siege with the press, police and student protestors up to farcical antics at his gates, he finds love at last. But can he extricate himself from all the unwanted attention, tiptoe through the legal minefield and keep his beloved animals - and his new love? Set in the unsophisticated 1960s, The Animal Man is a funny, touching story of one man's battle to throw off the shackles of his humdrum, loveless past and follow his dream. This debut novel by Kent author David McDine is sure to appeal to fans of Alexander McCall Smith, P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh.