Cats & Daughters by Helen Brown

Reviewed by Jeanne

I first encountered Helen Brown with Cleo, the Cat Who Mended a Family.  Helen hadn’t wanted the scrawny black kitten, but her nine year old son Sam had begged and she’d given in.  Tragically, Sam was killed before they ever got the kitten, leaving behind a heart-broken mother, father, and younger brother. Helen reluctantly accepted Cleo after Sam's death as the kitten had been a connection with Sam, and had helped Helen to learn to live again through her grief and breakup of her marriage.  I know this all sounds dreadfully depressing, but that’s what I found so amazing about the book: while Helen didn’t minimize her pain, somehow I found the book to be less a tear-jerker and more of a warm, funny memoir that nevertheless touched the heart.

When I learned that Helen had a new book out, this one about dealing with a headstrong daughter, fighting breast cancer, and adopting a new cat, I was hesitant.  Cleo the cat and Cleo the book were unique; I was uncertain that another book could be anywhere near as good as that one.

I really should be used to being wrong by now.  I am so frequently.

As the book begins, Helen is ready to move her family to another house, one in a neighborhood where no one is quite so keen on keeping up with the Joneses and where lawn mowing wasn’t a near religion. Also, she finds herself stopping at Cleo’s grave for a chat, and while she knows she’s perfectly sane she does understand that it looks a tad peculiar.  She discovers Shirley—yes, the house has a nameplate, an unattractive brass one affixed to the wall and not removable—and feels that they are soul mates. They’re both of a certain age, a bit past their prime, and possibly structurally unsound. Obviously, they’re meant for each other.  Helen’s husband Phillip is a bit less enthused, but somehow they end up with Shirley, for better or for worse. The house is going to need a lot of renovation, but just as they get started Helen’s daughter Lydia throws her a curve by announcing that she wants to go to Sri Lanka, possibly to become a Buddhist nun. Helen is shocked: has Lydia somehow failed to notice that there’s a civil war going on in Sri Lanka? Has she forgotten she’s just won an impressive scholarship?  What about her plans to get her degree? But not only is Lydia descended from a long line of strong, independent women, she’s a Taurus, born in the Year of the Ox, at the Hour of the Ox—triple stubbornness. Then Helen is diagnosed with breast cancer and is facing an uncertain future. As Helen struggles to cope, she discovers love at first sight is real. She’d never believed it was, especially not between a middle-aged woman and a Siamese kitten, but one look into those blue eyes and she’s a goner.

Helen says that someone told her your last cat picks your next for you. If this is so, she wonders, what on Earth was Cleo thinking? Jonah is nothing like Cleo and brings his own form of chaos into an already disturbed household.

I’ve tried to describe Brown’s writing and why I love it so much but I’ve been largely unsuccessful.  The best way I can put it is to say that when I read most other books of this sort, I feel as if I’m in a room with a group of people and the author is standing at a podium, telling us about his or her life. When I read Helen’s books—and note that I call her by her first name-- I feel as if I’m at Blackbird Bakery sharing coffee and treats while catching up with an old friend. I laugh a lot, I care a lot, and find much to which I can relate.  I become totally absorbed.  I had the book with me in the car while running errands and decided to sit and read a chapter before going into another store.  One chapter turned into several and when I made myself put the book down, I was totally disoriented.  I had to get out of the car and look around to figure out where I was.  

Not many books do that to me.  

I highly recommend Cats and Daughters.

(Note: The review of Cleo can be read here.)

Meet Cleo, the Cat Who Mended A Family

The Cat Who Mended a Family by Helen Brown (155.937 BRO Main)



Reviewed by Jeanne


New Zealander Helen Brown was a young wife with two growing boys, a husband and a dog. Life was good.Nine year old Sam, the elder boy, was lively, affectionate and had a tender heart for animals.He was excited about his upcoming birthday: the only present he wanted was a kitten. He’d already picked one out, a runty little half Abyssinian/ half alley cat he’d dubbed Cleo.She wasn’t ready to leave her mother yet, so the kitten would be a belated gift. Helen wasn’t quite sure about the cat. She was a dog person, she thought. However, Sam was emphatic that he wanted a kitten, so a kitten it would be.

Then the world fell in. Sam found an injured bird. In his rush to get it to a vet’s, he stepped out in front of a car. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

A nightmare of grief and anger followed. Helen had fantasies about confronting the woman who killed her child but couldn’t face going to the trial. She wanted to cover her younger son Rob in bubble wrap to keep him safe from all the dangers of the world. The marriage, already on shaky ground, threatened to unravel.

Then one day just a few weeks after the accident, there’s a knock on the door. The kitten is ready for her new home. Through the fog of pain, Helen is amazed—how on earth could the woman believe they would still want this kitten? Then Rob sees the kitten—Sam’s kitten—and there’s no way she can say no. She promises herself it will only be for a few days. After that, she can send the kitten back, saying they’d tried and it just didn’t work out.

Thus begins a journey of recovery, of discovery and re-discovery.

The book covers twenty five years of sorrows and joys, and does so with honesty and humor.Many reviewers have said it will rip your heart out, but I would add that it will also make you smile and believe in the resilience of the human spirit. She doesn’t minimize the pain, but neither does she wallow in it. Brown is a well-known columnist and journalist in Australia and New Zealand, and she is good at her craft. She has a sharp wit, self-deprecating humor, and an eye for detail. She writes with refreshing honesty, yet refrains from bitterness over some situations.

Unlike some animal stories, Cleo is indeed at the heart of this tale as guide and healer. Her feline approach to life encourages her human family to open up to possibilities and to embrace change and love. She’s feisty, loving, and adventurous, an ugly duckling who turns into a sleek black feline goddess.>Her sense of timing is impeccable as is her judgment of character.She has a special bond with Rob, and gives the family a living link with Sam. There’s even a touch of the mystic, which I won’t spoil by divulging, but as with the rest of the book, Brown draws the lessons lightly, never hammering home a point that can be made more gently.

I found this book to be a delight. I admit some trepidation at starting it as I wasn’t in the mood for a three hanky experience. Instead, I found a very human (and feline) story of love, loss and learning to live again. At the end of the book, you feel as if you’ve known Helen Brown for years, that you’ve grown up with her children and that Cleo has played a part in your life as well. Rather than a tear-jerker, I’d count this as a warm and friendly chat with a strong, funny, inspiring lady who has a wonderful way with words.