I have written more than sixty novels, and during the writing of most of them I had a cat by my side. I have three—Mousefur, Firefur, and Peanut Butter. They are rescue cats and my daughter named them. I talk to them, but they only reply with meows. I’ve always fantasised about what it would be like to live with a talking cat, and how those conversations would go. I actually did write a science fiction story many years ago—Dreamer’s Cat—about a man whose sanity is guarded by an imaginary bobcat. I have asked my cats if I should write a sequel, but they just say ‘meow’.
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is the original talking cat novel, though Carroll wasn’t the first to describe a grinning Cheshire Cat. I read the book as a child and loved it, and was especially taken by the Cheshire Cat who appears and disappears at will, and engages Alice in amusing but perplexing conversations. I never forgot the bit where the cat disappears gradually until nothing is left but its grin.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll (the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson). It tells of a young girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into a subterranean fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.
One of the best-known and most popular works of English-language fiction, its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have been enormously…
I discovered Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels more than thirty years ago, and loved them, especially The Sandman. I was lucky to hear him give a talk in a Dublin bookstore more than twenty years ago. The guy is a genius. His full-length novel Coraline features a talking cat, and one of the things the cat says has stuck with me forever. "You people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names." The unnamed cat in the story acts as a mentor to young Coraline when she is in the sinister ‘Other World.’ It’s a wonderful book.
"Sometimes funny, always creepy, genuinely moving, this marvellous spine-chiller will appeal to readers from nine to ninety." - "Books for Keeps". "I was looking forward to "Coraline", and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was enthralled. This is a marvellously strange and scary book." - Philip Pullman, "Guardian". "If any writer can get the guys to read about the girls, it should be Neil Gaiman. His new novel "Coraline" is a dreamlike adventure. For all its gripping nightmare imagery, this is actually a conventional fairy story with a moral." - "Daily Telegraph". Stephen King once called Neil Gaiman 'a treasure-house…
Liam was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.
This book features a calico cat who reminds me very much of my own cat, Peanut Butter. But Conrad the cat is a very special cat—he talks! And he helps retired police detective Lulu Lewis solve crimes. Lulu lives on a canal boat in Little Venice, which has always been a dream of mine. I gather this is the first in a series of Conrad the cat cosy crime mysteries, and I can’t wait for the next one!
The Cat Who Caught a Killer by L T Shearer is a charming cosy crime read for fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club and S. J. Bennett's The Windsor Knot.
'Charming and original. This book is the cat's whiskers' - Anthony Horowitz, author of The Twist of a Knife
Meet Conrad. Conrad is a cat. You've never met a detective like him before.
Neither has Lulu Lewis, until he walks into her life one summer's day. Mourning the recent death of her husband, the former police detective had expected a gentle retirement, quietly enjoying life on her new…
A cat called Joe Grey discovers that he can speak and at the same time he witnesses a murder. But the murderer knows that Joe has seen him, so all of his nine lives are on the line. Joe meets another cat, Dolcie who can also talk. They team up to discover who the killer is. The story is written from the point of view of the cats, which I love! There is a whole series of Joe Grey mysteries, and I love them. The author has won eleven Cat Writers' Association Muse Medallion Awards for best cat novel of the year.
It's been quite a week for Joe Grey. First the large, powerfulfeline discovers that, through some strange, inexplicable phenomenon, he now has the ability to understand human language. Then he discovers he can speak it as well! It's a nightmare for a cat who'd prefer to sleep the day away carefree, but Joe can handle it. That is, until he has the misfortune to witness a murder in the alley behind Jolly's Deli -- and worse, to be seen witnessing it. With all of his nine lives suddenly at risk, Joe's got no choice but to get to the bottom…
This book is a literary historical novel. It is set in Britain immediately after World War II, when people – gay, straight, young, and old - are struggling to get back on track with their lives, including their love lives. Because of the turmoil of the times, the number of…
Niffy is a beautiful smoky grey cat, just the right colour to hide in dim and dark places. Niffy guides a young prince through the perils of ruling and loving in this award-winning author’s enchanting and sophisticated fairy tale for adults and intelligent children alike. I first read this book twenty years ago and have reread it several times. I love it. It’s a great story to read with your children.
After the death of wise old Mangan, the Regent of Esphania, many of the
regent's skills and qualities seem to have been transferred to his beautiful and
intelligent cat, Niffy, who at once attaches herself to the new ruler, Prince
Jamas. When the king of a neighboring kingdom seems keen to forge an alliance
with Jamas by allowing the prince to marry his niece, the real danger is Yasmin,
the wicked queen wife, who poisons everyone she dislikes or suspects of
interfering with her ambitions. Now, Niffy must guide Jamas through a thicket of
difficulties to save the Prince Jamas…
Serial killers never retire. They just go on hiatus. The urge to kill is always there, bubbling below the surface. Billy and Charlie thought their killing days were behind them. They used to be prolific life-takers, but old age finally caught up with them. Now they are ending their days in a dismal nursing home in Blackpool, with only their memories to keep them going. Memories of murder and mutilation.
When Archie turns up at the home, everything changes. Archie is a breath of fresh air and he puts new life into Billy and Charlie. Before long they realise that it’s time to start killing again. But Archie isn’t what he appears to be. And Billy and Charlie’s lives are about to change forever.
A retired English teacher has come home to Appalachia, a land of industrial disaster and natural beauty. He has been enticed with stories of Wildcat’s transformation: of the collective action embodied in Hotel Wildcat as well as the artisanal pursuits springing to life in the old iron mill. But in…
December on 5C4 is a work of magical realism with a Christmas holiday focus in which many Jewish tales, New Testament stories, and Santa legends are all re-enacted in an urban psychiatric hospital setting.
On locked ward 5C4, Josh and Nick—two very different patients, one with similarities to Jesus and…
