A Dickens Of A Cat by Callie
Smith Grant, et al
Reviewed by Karri Compton
"All of the stories are heart-warming, most of them humorous, none of them boring."
Callie Smith Grant, cat-lover and multi-published author, has compiled this delightful volume of twenty-four short stories for those of us who realize that cats are more than just animals. They play, cuddle, keep us company, and are low maintenance--usually. (Insert Cheshire grin here.) Some are even God-sent.
The tale titled “A Mocha’s Just What I Needed” explains how a feline named Mocha diffused a heated argument between spouses, proving to the author that even people who are not “cat people” can become such. Another story tells how putting a young anorexic girl in charge of a dying kitten saved both of their lives. In yet another, a suicidal woman receives a phone call from someone needing her to adopt an abused cat. She reluctantly obliges and finds that she and the cat need each other, giving the woman a reason to live. One loyal cat named Stella travelled through the woods for eight miles, returning to her previous owner, who had given the cat to a friend when no longer able to care for it.
All of the stories are heart-warming, most of them humorous, none of them boring. There are even adorable black-and-white pictures of cats included within the text of some of the stories--I can only assume that each cat photo depicts the particular story’s cat.
This book is appropriate as a gift for any cat lover, especially one who needs encouragement or a spark to light up her day, or could perhaps be read aloud to children. I have two cats myself, so I may be biased, but I’ll bet anyone can enjoy such a book. It can be read one story at a time, but each is brief enough and interesting enough so that, once the reader gets started, she may not be able to stop at just one.
Karri
Compton,
wife and mother of three, devours Christian fiction whenever possible. Her favorite
genre is suspense/thriller, especially Ted Dekker novels. Since promoting biblical
worldview fiction is dear to her heart, she reviews on her blog, Fiction
Fanatics
Only! and is a staff reviewer and interviewer for such sites as The Christian
Suspense Zone. Her latest published work appears in Peculiar People's novel collaboration,
Delivered. She is a member of such writers' groups as The Lost Genre Guild and
FCW. Editing the completed first draft of her novel keeps her busy, as well as
performing in musicals put on by her local community theater association.
