This year’s choice for Book of the Year was an easy one: of all the cat books I’ve read over the years, no other book has touched me as deeply as Caleb Carr’s My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me.
Caleb Carr grew up in a dysfunctional home with an abusive father. He found comfort in the feline companions that were part of his childhood. Even as an adult, his relationships with cats outlasted most of his human ones. After he built a home in upstate New York, Masha, a Siberian Forest Cat who was abandoned as a kitten, came into his life. He met her at a shelter where she was passed over for adoption again and again because of her wild nature. Much to the shelter staff’s amazement, Masha became a different cat with Caleb. She clearly chose him, and he took her home the same day. From that day on, for the next seventeen years, the two became inseparable.
Caleb and Masha formed a bond that went beyond anything I’ve ever encountered, both in literature and real life. When Caleb’s health deteriorated, Masha knew how to comfort him. When Masha hurt or dealt with her own health issues, Caleb helped her. A lifetime of studying feline behavior and his experience with previous cats combined to allow him to communicate with Masha on a level rarely seen between cat and human.
Ultimately, this book is a story of love and grief unlike anything I’ve encountered before. It will make you look at your own relationships with your cats, both past and present, in a new way. And it will stay with you long after you turn the final page. Click here to read my full review.
If you’re only going to read one cat memoir this year, make it My Beloved Monster.
My Beloved Monster is available from Amazon.
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Love reading your blogs!!
Just reading your review made me cry so I think it will a long time before I can read the book. I lost two fur babies this year, one week apart. Our sweet boy Buddy was only 6 and we lost him to Feline Triaditis and then exactly a week later we lost our 19 year angel who had been fighting Kidney Disease. My heart is still broken but time I will definitely read this book.
Oh Nancy, I’m so sorry. That’s an awful lot of loss so close together. My heart goes out to you.
Thanks for telling us about this book Ingrid. I bought it right away and am enthralled by how sensitive Caleb is to Masha’s needs. I have learned a lot about cats from it despite having had them for most of my life. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Patty!
Based on your review, I recently bought My Beloved Monster at a local bookstore. I’m looking forward to reading it!
I hope you enjoy it, Allison.
I agree this was the best book of the year. They were soulmates.
Most definitely.
I still need to read this book. I think it’s going to break my heart, but I think it’s going to be worth it.
It is definitely worth it, Janine, even though it’s not an easy read at times.
I bought this book based upon your previous recommendation for it. It is extraordinary. I just finished it a couple days ago, and I haven’t yet been able to pick up another book. I’m still so very affected by the story of Masha and Mr. Carr. A very worthy “book of the year” winner!
I’m glad you loved the book, too.