Book Review: “After Cleo Came Jonah”

“After Cleo Came Jonah” by Helen Brown

When Helen Brown lost her young son, Sam, in a road accident, her life was understandably thrown into devastation. Her first book, Cleo, is the true story of how a small, feisty black kitten, pre-picked by Sam before his death, burrowed her way into their lives and pushed the family along the road of healing. It was a book of heart-breaking confessions and heart-warming revelations, which quickly became an international best seller. And it seems I shall have to bring out the box of tissues once again, because Cleo is to be made into a film.

But while I wait for that tear-jerker to reach the screens, I’ve had the satisfaction of Brown’s sequel: After Cleo Came Jonah.

This book picks up where Cleo left off – their beloved cat has passed away at the ripe old age of twenty-four, and Helen is determined to never take another feline into her home.

However, as Helen Brown quotes, it is often thought that one’s old cat will pick their replacement.

Organising her son’s upcoming wedding, struggling to put Cleo’s story to paper, battling breast cancer and trying to cope with her eldest daughter’s decision to become a Buddhist Nun in Sri Lanka, Helen knows that a kitten is the last thing she needs. But then Jonah, a wildly beautiful siamese cat, marches into her life, and things are never to be the same.

All she can wonder is: if cats truly do pick their replacements, what on earth was Cleo thinking?

Admittedly, autobiographies (and indeed, non-fiction books in general) have never been my cup of tea. The only exception was humourist David Sedaris, and so it was that I read Cleo with some amount of scepticism.

I was so very, very wrong.

Helen has a way of drawing you so deeply into her mind that her every anguish cuts you to the core. You genuinely care for her plights and pray for her triumphs. Somehow, she manages to weave a sardonic wit into her writing, masterfully intertwined with the dramatic subject matter. And if you’re a cat-lover like me, you’ll delight in her anecdotes; I know I found myself giggling at the similarities between Jonah and my own darling felines, both past and present.

I can easily say that Cleo and Jonah are two of my very favourite books. So if you’re a cat-lover, a non-fiction-lover, or simply a reader looking for a passionate, emotive journey, then Helen Brown may be right up your alley.

- Love The Bad Guy

“I Am From…”

Hi all. A few weeks back, I read a truly beautiful piece over at My Other Book is a Tolstoy by Louise, which then inspired another wonderful post by Stef at Dodging Commas. Both of these talented ladies wrote a poem using the “I am from” format they found on Susie J’s Blog, who provided the basic “procedure”.

 Now, I’m not going to lie — compared to the masterpieces these bloggers presented, mine is mediocre. I am not a Poet. I fail at writing poetry. These are facts. Nevertheless, I absolutely adored the “I am from” poems that I read, and the way that they provided insight to their writers in the most mysterious way, so… I’m havin’ a crack. Be kind!

I am from lazy Sunday drives that rarely happen on a Sunday. I am from the small town. I am from fear of the unknown, of becoming distracted and losing myself. I am from 180 degrees of wrong direction.

I am from lilies on Valentine’s Day, when the world screams for roses. I am from the old-fashioned, hoping for opened doors and “you are beautiful”, but needing freedom, space, understanding. Let me be flighty; I will come back.

I am from eating ducks under tables and finishing crusts so my hair grows curly. I am from Nanna’s roasts and Pop’s straw hat. I am from flour-dusted cheeks and mixing bowls, from pumpkin scones, cuddles and midnight taste-testing. I am from spilt salt and black cats, from putting new shoes on the table and walking under ladders thirteen times, just to see what will happen.

I am from a cousin’s Funny Things, from schedules never kept and never needed. From day-apart birthdays and monthly sleepovers and I miss you.

I am from inquisitive meows and warm bundles that always appear just when needed. I am from heartache and loss when your best friend stops purring.

I am from women, from a family of one-man-only per generation. I am from divorce and from moving house once a year. I am from Broken that never seemed Broken until people started to say it was.

I am from Velveteen Rabbits, from dog-eared pages and “you should be a writer”. I am from bad guys; why do I love you so?  I am from diaries never maintained and stories never obtained. From pencils sharpened to the nub and never thrown away, but always eventually lost. From right angles and alphabetizing and needing order, lest Life fall apart.

I am from optimism, wrapped around realism. I am from hoping for better, but loving the now, even when I don’t love myself. I am from expectations.

I am from…

- Love The Bad Guy

DAY 26: Favourite Nonfiction Book

We have already covered the fact that the books that make me laugh out loud are those by David Sedaris, and so those, technically, are my favourite nonfiction books. However, I like to think that someone, somewhere, is sitting in the basement of his Mum’s house with his laptop, Red Bull and myriad of books, and is following my blog and my responses to this challenge with the thoughtful remarks of, “Wow. That sounds like a great book. I will seriously consider purchasing that in the near future.”

And so to you, my most-likely-non-existent-blog-enthusiast, I shall present an alternate answer for today’s topic: Cleo: How A Small Black Cat Helped Heal A Family by Helen Brown.

I will say only this to those of you who may choose to read Cleo some day: Get the tissues ready.

- Love The Bad Guy

DAY 3: Book That Makes You Laugh Out Loud

Have you ever been sitting in a public place with a book, and then found a funny line within its pages and been unable to keep from laughing out loud, despite the fact that the surrounding people are staring at you with looks of minor concern for your sanity?

…When you do this, and you just simply do not care… That’s when you know you’ve found a brilliant book.

For me, that brilliant book is Me Talk Pretty One Day and virtually every single other book by David Sedaris. Funny man. Funny books. Me recommend.

      

- Love The Bad Guy