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Cleo
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Cleo (2009) (edit title/settings)

The Cat Who Mended a Family

by Helen Brown (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

"We're just going to look." Helen Brown had no intention of adopting a pet when she brought her sons, Sam and Rob, to visit a friend's new kittens. But the runt of the litter was irresistible, with her overlarge ears and dainty chin. When Cleo was delivered weeks later, she had no way of... read more

Summary edit see section history

For all those people who say they aren't cat people, but deep down know they are. Helen Brown wasn't a cat person, but her nine-year old son Sam was. So when Sam heard someone mention that her cat had just had a litter, he pleaded to go and see them. Seeing Sam holding one of the tiny kittens... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

For all those people who say they aren't cat people, but deep down know they are. Helen Brown wasn't a cat person, but her nine-year old son Sam was. So when Sam heard someone mention that her cat had just had a litter, he pleaded to go and see them. Seeing Sam holding one of the tiny kittens in his hands, Helen was powerless to resist and the deal was done -- to be delivered when the kitten was big enough to leave her mother. Just a week later, Sam was killed in a road accident. Not long after this, a little black kitten was delivered to the family's doorstep. Totally numbed by Sam's death, Helen had completely forgotten about the new arrival, which belonged in another universe when Sam was still alive. Helen was ready to send her back, but Sam's younger brother, Rob, identified with the kitten who'd also lost her brothers. Stroking her, it was the first time Helen had seen him smile since Sam's death. There was no choice, the kitten -- dubbed Cleo -- had to stay. Cleo's immense character slowly taught the family to laugh again, giving them hope of getting back to normal. She went on to become the high priestess of Helen's household - vetoing her new men, terrifying visiting dogs and playing an integral role in their lives to become both a guardian and friend.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Animals know a lot more than people do. Dogs can tell when there's going to be an earthquake. Birds can fly halfway around the world to find their nest. If people listened to animals more often they wouldn't make so many mistakes”
  • “Most days are so similar they're forgotten almost before the sun sets on them. Thousands of days dissolve into each other, evolving into months and years. we slide through time expecting each day to be as predictable as the one before. Lulled into routines evolving the same breakfast cereals, school runs and familiar faces, we're anaesthetised into believing our lives will go unchanged forever.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • To love is ultimately to lose. The unwritten contract that arrives with every pet is they’re probably going to die before you do. The more devoted you are to them the more sorrow their departure will inflict.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • A cat’s purr is said to have a profound effect on the human body. Tests have proved purring reduces people’s stress, lowers blood pressure and helps mend muscles and bones. The healing powers of cats are increasingly acknowledged by the many hospitals and nursing homes that employ resident cat doctors.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • Cleo’s motto seemed to be: Life’s tough and that’s okay, because life is also fantastic. Love it, live it—but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s not harsh sometimes. Those who’ve survived periods of bleakness are often better at savoring good times and wise enough to understand that good times are actually great.
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • Cats aren’t something to be “got.” They turn up in people’s lives when they’re needed, and with a purpose that probably won’t be understood to begin with.
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • People persuade themselves they deserve easy lives, that being human makes us somehow exempt from pain. The theory works fine until we face the inevitable challenges. Our conditioning of denial in no way equips us to deal with the difficult times that not one of us escapes.
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • Great joy doesn’t obliterate grief. Both can be encompassed at the same time.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • Cats don’t beat themselves up about not working hard enough. They don’t get up and go, they sit down and stay. For them, lethargy is an art form. From their vantage points on top of fences and window ledges, they see the treadmills of human obligations for what they are—a meaningless waste of nap time.
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • A cat doesn’t go where it’s invited. It appears where it’s needed.
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • He’d met too many people who’d claimed to be Christian while demonstrating none of Jesus’ more admirable traits.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • A cat is always in the right place at exactly the right time.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
Show all 12 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

'We're not getting a kitten,' I said, negotiating our stationwagon around a bend the shape of a pretzel.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. Choice
2. A Name
3. Loss
4. The Intruder
5. Trust
6. Awakening
7. Taming the Beast
8. Healer
9. Goddess
10. Resuscitation
11. Compassion
12. Huntress
13. Letting Go
14. Observer
15. Indulgence
16. Replacement
17. Rebirth
18. Risk
19. Resilience
20. Openness
21. The Kiss
22. Exposure
23. Respect
24. People and Places
25. Freedom
26. Witch's Cat
27. Absence
28. Patience
29. Missing
30. Purr Power
31. Connection
32. Forgiveness
33. Conversion
34. Tough Vet, Soft Vet
35. Renewal

Acknowledgements

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Helen Brown (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 9781444700121
Page Count: 286

Classification edit see section history

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