One October night in 1870s New York City, a circus train plunges into the Hudson River. There's one survivor: a wild lynx named Calvin. When he swims ashore, Calvin wanders into The Poor Monkey, the city's most notorious saloon. There he encounters B.T. McGurk, the bar's owner and a man with a past as unexpected as Calvin's own.

It isn't long before rumours begin swirling that McGurk is hiding a wild animal at The Poor Monkey, and people start asking questions. The circus owners. The police. Even Tammany Hall, New York's political machine. But McGurk refuses to talk. For reasons all his own, he wants to protect Calvin. But that protection comes with a cost - one that may land him in jail, or worse.

Once again, James McBride draws on his unparalleled storytelling skills and his deep faith in the power of connection to tell a story as compassionate as The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and as inventive as The Good Lord Bird. With insight and humour, McBride shows us in The Poor Monkey that the bonds we share - between friends and between humans and animals - can sustain us in powerful and life-affirming ways.