I recently started rereading some old favorite books. Not all of them are cat books, but many are. I thought I’d start a new series and share some of these perennial favorites with you. Today’s entry: The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle. That’s Katrina’s beautiful Annie in the photo above showing off the cover.
If you’ve followed us for a while, you may remember Katrina from her 2023 novel Morning in This Broken World, one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read about people coming together from very completely different backgrounds to form a family. Set against the backdrop of the early days of the pandemic, what could have been a depressing and unsettling story instead becomes is a narrative filled with light and hope.
The Blessings of the Animals‘ central character is Cam Anderson, a small-town veterinarian with multiple pets ranging from cats to horses and even a goat. She also volunteers to rescue abused horses and donkeys. Even though she saves animals in need, she can’t save her own marriage. As she tries to mend her broken heart and learn to trust again, her menagerie of formerly abused critters helps her heal .
Beautifully written with immensely likeable characters, this book enthralled me when I first read it 15 years ago – and it was still just as wonderful and magical to me now as it was then. Of course, the animals and the fact that Cam turns to them as teachers and healers has a lot to do with my love for this book. There’s Gingersnap, the somewhat feral limping cat, Gerald, the three-legged cat who is not amused when Gingersnap joins the menagerie, Max the limping dog, Moonshot, a horse rescued from a horrible situation, and Muriel the goat who manages to foil all attempts of keeping her corralled. Katrina’s love for animals shines through in how she writes these furry characters.
This is the kind of book that leaves you grateful for the healing power of animals. You will laugh, you will cry, and I bet you, too will add this book to your own list of favorites.
The Blessings of the Animals is available from Amazon.
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so good, I think there was a TV show as well.
It is soo nice to see so many do the Blessing of the Animals. I always send a donation to the Sisters of St Francis of Assisi who have their blessing of the animal in October. I send in Tasha’s name every year for her to be part of their blessing. This book sounds like a winner.
This book sounds really good. I like the kind that sends me through all emotions.