My favourite types of books are those that are unexpected pleasures. You sit down after lunch on a rainy Sunday, intending to read a few pages, and the next thing you know, the light is fading outside, you’ve finished half the book and it’s time for din dins. Sara Gruen’s Ape House is one of those time-swallowing delights. All four of her novels have been about animals, with Water for Elephants being her most successful (a movie version is out next year, starring everyone’s favourite vampire, Robert Pattinson).

As the title of her latest suggests, this one is about the great apes, in particular bonobos. Gruen is one of few visitors who have been granted access to the Great Ape Trust in Iowa, and she spent a long time getting to know the bonobos who inspired this novel. These amazing creatures share 99.4% of our DNA, and communicate using sign language and computer-based lexigrams. Gruen’s wickedly clever novel concerns a fictional family of bonobos living in harmony with their minder Isabel Duncan in a research facility. Philadelphia reporter John Thigpen arrives to interview Duncan and her wards, and is immediately hooked by the bonobos’ charm and humanity. Disaster strikes when the apes are stolen from the facility and wind up on a bizarre reality show, Ape House. Duncan and Thigpen must join forces to work out how to rescue the bonobos from their unwanted newfound fame.

This is a fresh, illuminating novel filled with complex characters and sharp dialogue. Gruen ensures we empathise with the humans as much as the apes, and by drawing us into a witty, modern narrative, she takes the opportunity to educate us about the often-appalling treatment of apes in captivity and our sad human obsession with superficiality.