The exploits of Margaret Durrell, elder sister of zoologist Gerald, have been detailed in her recently re-released memoirs, Whatever Happened to Margo?, which focus on her time running a guest house in Bournemouth in the 1950s. Margaret's granddaughter Tracy Breeze, who was instrumental in the book's publication, shares her memories of the "best friend" and "confidante" who brought her up.

Many of us have watched with delight the ITV show following the exploits of zoologist Gerald Durrell and his family. But for Tracy Breeze, the programme is particularly poignant - she is the granddaughter of Gerald's younger sister, Margaret.

Tracy was especially close to her Nan, who brought her up from the age of 11, and has so enjoyed reliving her childhood memories that she has decided to re-release the book of Margaret's memoirs, Whatever Happened to Margo?, which detail her life running a Bournemouth guest house.

The book was originally published in 1995, but went out of print, explains Tracy, who lives in Bournemouth.

"She wrote it ages ago, she just sat on it," she says.

"A lady called Sophie typed up the manuscript - she was Uncle Gerry's PA in the 1960s. She had this manuscript on really thin paper, all done on a typewriter, with her marks all over it. I said 'no wonder you can't get it published'. So I re-typed the whole thing for her and distributed it to various agents in 1995. It was published in hardback, soft back, tape format and in several languages.

"When the programme first came on, this was selling for £100-plus a copy on the internet. That's when Penguin came in - they're publishers of Laurence and Gerry's books. We published it in paperback, so it's back on the shelves."

Margaret was born in India, but was brought back to England with her three brothers - Laurence, Leslie and Gerald - when their father died.

"They moved to London and someone told them it was warmer on the south coast - because they weren't used to the weather - so they moved to Bournemouth," says Tracy, "but felt it wasn't quite right."

The family moved to Corfu, at Laurence's suggestion, with most of them returning to Bournemouth once war broke out.

"But my grandmother stayed and dressed up as a peasant local - she loved it so much," says Tracy.

She was eventually talked into leaving by boat plane pilot Jack Breeze, and the couple later moved to Africa and married in 1940, before coming back to Bournemouth in 1945. The couple split up shortly afterwards and Margaret and her two sons moved in with her mother, Louisa, in St Alban's Avenue.

When Louisa gave her children their inheritance while she was still alive, Margaret used the £4,000 to purchase the property opposite her mother's and started a house with lodgers, to keep her and her children.

"That's how Gerry was able to buy all those animals," explains Tracy. "Leslie bought a boat, Laurence put it into his lifestyle and Margo started her home.

"My nan only attracted eccentrics - she had artists there, nurses, musicians - so there was always something going on."

The guest house, where Gerald lived in the attic with his first wife, was also where the renowned zoologist first started his collection of animals - with snakes and reptiles kept in the garage and monkeys being given free range inside the house.

There are many stories of locals walking past to see apes swinging from the curtains, and even a mention in the Daily Echo in June 1950 when all the monkeys escaped the house and made their way down to Bournemouth town centre, causing complete chaos along the way.

By the time her two boys had grown up, Margaret was starting to feel restless, so joined a Greek ship travelling the Caribbean as a stewardess and hostess, helping organise party nights and dancing in Greek uniform.

"She just loved the Greeks, it just made her feel alive," remembers Tracy. "When I used to go and visit, she always had Greek music playing and was dancing around with her arms in the air.

"She was 50 when she joined the ship - she was just so young at heart. She had lots of adventures and she wrote another book about her time on the ship.

"My mother died when I was 11. My nan then came back off the Greek ship, back to Bournemouth, to help bring us up, so she took on a different role in life. She was always the rock of the family. She was very much like how her mother is portrayed on the programme - open-minded, fierce at times, keeping everything going."

Tracy is delighted that the programme is not only enabling her to relive those memories of Margaret, who died aged 86 in January 2007, but also promoting the important work of her "Uncle Gerry".

"People are looking at his books, going to the zoo and all the money they spend goes to helping endangered animals. And it's also been lovely having them alive in your home once a week.

"How she is portrayed on the programme is pretty much true. Uncle Gerry and Margo were the closest, so I used to spend a lot of time with them as well.

"Nan brought me up - she was my best friend, she was my confidante. She was everything to me."

Whatever Happened To Margo?, by Margaret Durrell, is available now. Published by Penguin, priced £9.99