They Call Me The Cat Lady

Author: Amy Miller
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Type: ebook
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Bookouture
First Published: April 26, 2019
Opening Lines: "The key to Nancy Jones's heart dropped through her letter box at 7:35am, as she carefully shared our cat biscuits into five blue saucers."

Book Description from GoodReads: You’ve seen me on the street. You’ve walked past my house, and pointed, and wondered. The cat lady. All on my own, with only my five cats to keep me company. Did no-one ever tell you that you can’t judge a book by its cover?

Everyone in town knows Nancy Jones. She loves her cats. She loves her tumbledown house by the sea. She loves her job in the local school where she tries to help the children who need help the most. Nancy tries hard not to think about her past loves and where those led her.

Nancy never shares her secrets – because some doors are better kept locked. But one day she accepts a cat-sitting request from a local woman, and at the woman’s house, Nancy sees a photograph, in a bright-red frame. A photograph that opens the door to her painful past…

Soon Nancy doesn’t know what frightens her the most: letting her story out, or letting the rest of the world in. It’s impossible to find companionship without the risk of losing it. But can Nancy take that risk again?

A heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of love lost and found, and of second chances, They Call Me The Cat Lady is perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: This is a charming, gentle read about a woman who has lived through many of life's tragic events and has found solace within her small, insular world with a gaggle of felines she calls family.

While I didn't find it quite the emotional punch that the blurb describes, it does have an interesting main character that readers can root for as well as a diverse group of secondary characters to round out the cast. The author smoothly introduces bigger issues into the plot, I enjoyed how the life events that have caused Nancy to shy away from the bigger world were revealed to the reader.

This is a heartwarming, fairly predictable but enjoyable, character-driven story that explores how one woman works through her personal tragedies and in doing so broadens the reclusive world she had created around herself. Thankfully, you don' t have to be a cat lover to enjoy this sweet book.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.