Cleo: the Cat Who Mended a Family

I am on a bit of a cat book kick this month. Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family by Helen Brown is my latest kitty adventure. Cleo's story while about a runt of the litter spunky kitten is also about grief and what that can do to a family and how a family can mend afterwards. It is a true story based on the Author's actually experience which makes it all the more touching. It's a very good story that is well written. I would recommend it to all cat lovers and well as those who have been touched by the grief of losing someone close to them.

Helen reluctantly agrees to let her two boys, Sam and Rob, adopt a kitten. As she says, I am not a cat person. I am more of a dog person. But Sam insists; all he wants for his birthday is the kitten. Helen agrees, but they will have to wait for the kitten as she is not ready to be weaned from her mother yet. Before Cleo, as the kitten is to be called, can become a member of the family, tragedy strikes. Sam is killed in a car accident. The kitten is dropped off as promised to a now grieving family. At first, Helen can't imagine keeping Sam's kitten, but soon the family cannot think of living without her. Cleo helps the family heal using her kitty antics to coax them out of the all consuming grief. The family goes through their ups and downs, a marriage on the rocks, Rob learning to live without his older brother who always protected him, and a career that suddenly takes off and causes the family to move. Throughout all the trials and hardships Cleo gave her family the friend they each needed in their time of need, and the kind of comfort only cats can give. This story is as much about a family healing after tragedy as it is about a cat.

Cleo is a wonderful story about dealing with grief and the changes that life throws at us. It is also a wonderful story about how animals can touch our lives in unexpected ways and how they are more like people than maybe we even know. Helen Brown is a columnist by trade and she does a good job with this novel. It reads well. The story is well told and laid out. I read it in one sitting. It is at times a sad story so keep the tissue handy. I recommend this book for anyone who is dealing with the loss of a loved one or for all you cat lovers out there. This is a great book with a good message about living life.