Hemingway’s Cats: A Novel about Cats and Other Forces of Nature by Lindsey Hooper

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

 

Laura Lange really needed a change of scene. She’s just ended a relationship and needs a job, so she decides to pull up stakes from New York and head to Key West to work at the Hemingway Home and Museum.  Laura was an English major in school and even did her thesis on Hemingway; plus, she loves cats, so this seems like a match made in heaven.

Only she didn’t realize heaven was so humid.

Laura begins to adjust to her surroundings and to make friends with her new roommates and work colleagues. She’s also attracted the attention of a pair of cousins who are hoping she’ll pick one of them to be more than a friend.

While Key West is living up to its reputation as a freewheeling, laid-back, colorful place, there are storm clouds gathering—literally.  There’s a tropical storm bearing down on the Keys and it may do some real damage.

I picked this up because the jacket copy talked about the impossibility of moving the Hemingway cats out of the storm, making me think of Hurricane Irma. The staff at the Hemingway Home made the decision not to evacuate, which could have had fatal consequences.  Even one of Hemingway’s granddaughters publically asked them to leave, but they stayed put:  there was no way to evacuate the cats safely.

While I was disappointed that the story ended up not being about that particular storm, I still enjoyed the book.  Laura and the cousins are fairly stock characters, but there were enough colorful folks to round out the tale. There was a good bit of romance, too—not usually my thing, but again, some of the romances were unexpected.  I liked the good natured tone, the Key West setting, and most of all, the cats who are characters in their own rights.  In fact, parts of the story are told from their points of view.

In short, this was a pleasant tale that kept me happily occupied.