Imagine living on a farm with 600 rescue animals. Imagine that this has become your life because you’re fulfilling someone else’s dream.

This is what this book is all about. It’s a funny, warm, and heartfelt memoir about a woman running an animal rescue centre so she could make her mother’s dream come true.

The Funny Farm, named by Laurie’s mother because it is “full of animals and fit for lunatics”, is home to ducks, geese, dogs, pigs, goats, alpacas, horses, and peacocks.

Each of these creatures is cared for by Laurie and her legion of volunteers. Her story will have you in tears before you’ve even finished the prologue.

The story starts on a bleak note, with Laurie’s mother running for her life from their father, a controlling and abusive man who saw his family as possessions.

But it is the family’s zest, energy and hope that shine through the story. You want to keep reading because they keep overcoming the hard stuff.

You want to keep reading because you want to know what happens to two calves that get dropped off in the middle of the night, umbilical cords still attached, by a young eco-warrior.

You want to know how Laurie’s mother’s dream is realised and why she wants to dedicate her life to animal rescue.

And you will want to plan a trip to visit the Funny Farm and see how this family turned a life of poverty into one of delight.

If you love animals, if you care about animals, if you’ve dreamed of owning a guard llama called Trebuchet (they spit), get this book.