A robot in the garden

For fans of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, THE FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST and ET. 'A MOST UNUSUAL AND DELIGHTFUL BOOK' Alexander McCall SmithFunny, touching, charming, wise: a friendship novel that explores what it is to be human.

Some time in the future:Ben Chambers wakes up to find an old robot - rusty and dazed- sitting underneath the willow tree in his garden.

It's not a new android model, the type people now use for domestic chores around the house, but an antique one, no longer of any use.

Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he brings it inside.

He names it Tang. Tang turns out to be needy, he has a chronic oil leak and some inside parts don't work properly.

As Ben - who has never wanted children or even a job - grows closer to his new friend, he and his wife, Amy, grow further apart. When Amy finally walks out, Ben begins to realise he has now alienated all the human beings in his life.

But his new friend needs to be fixed, if he is to have a future. And so Ben decides to take Tang back to his maker, half way across the world, on a remote island in the Pacific ... Soon to be a major Warner Brothers Japan movie, starring Kazunari Ninomiya from ArashiREADERS LOVE IT TOO:There were so many funny parts in this book and i did not want it to end' 5 *****'A lovely book about friendship and discovery.

Heartwarming' 4 ****'i knew nothing about this book when i started it and i could not put it down' 5 ****'Wonderful. i did not want it to stop' 5 ****'The characters are drawn with such tenderness' 5 ****