“Winona Howe’s The Penniman Menagerie takes place in a Dickensian world, and Charles Dickens would have enjoyed the characters, the lively dialogue, and the combination of heart and intellect that runs through Howe’s writing. Her style is so limpid and the plotting so smooth that reading this book is almost like binge-watching a favorite miniseries. There is an element of magic in the connection between humans and animals in Howe’s novels, revealing how we are all in fact part of the menagerie of creation.”