Cat Lover's

Review for an interesting read indeed.  If you're a cat lover, this book is for you. 

Avalon

Avalon-The lovable Terror of Belgium

This is a most unusual read. The author does a brilliant job of blending and melding her life with her cat. Over the years, I’ve read a smattering of books written by cat lovers, but this one takes the cake, pudding and other dessert within easy reach.

Being a dog lover I seldom venture into this realm, I’m glad I did.

Avalon is one nasty Turkish Van cat, and I mean nasty. For the life of me I wouldn’t have tolerated this animal for more than a week, This cat is the most possessive animal I have ever heard or read about. He was Satan incarnate; at least to everyone but our author.

If a cat attempted to intrude in his territory, it was Katy-Bar-the-Door as he would throw a temper tantrum by flinging himself against the glass windows, bouncing off the walls and basically destroying everything in its path to run off the offender. And don’t think humans fared much better, oh no. If Vanessa brought over a male, he was not a welcome guest. I’m thinking of the chapter where Avalon trashed every item the man brought with him and conveniently placed them at the front door. Think it was a hint?

Halfway through, I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she kept the “Terror of Belgium.” I had to find out why, thus I continued forward hoping she would dump him in an alley somewhere. This is where the story takes on the surreal. Despite his repugnant attitude to all who vied for Vanessa’s attention, he became the relationship she knew she was missing.

It cost her a boyfriend and friends through the years, but he was always there for her no matter what turn her life took. He shared in her triumphs and failures. He became a movie star with an arrogance and acting ability many of the Hollywood crowd would be envious of. He loved Vanessa unconditionally and that is what the real story is here.

These two shared a love many humans strive for but fall short. Why? We expect our partners to possess certain characteristics and traits we can relate to and build a foundation on. These two had none of these preconceptions. They accepted each other with no expectations and shared a remarkable love.

If you are a cat lover and haven’t read this book, you must put it on your list. Not the stack of TBR’s that you’ll never get to, the one which contains must read books. You will not be disappointed!

Four stars.