I just finished reading your new novel.
Do you realize that there is not one single cat in the book? In fact, it’s full of birds! Parrots, pigeons, cardinals and even sparrows. As you know, I love to watch birds from the window. But I never expected to care about what happens to them. They’re birds!
And yet, I was enthralled by the adventures of Zeno the parrot. Would he ever find a banana-nut muffin? Would he really become friends with a pigeon? Would he learn the meaning of "home"?
Would he teach the girl Alya how to try? Or would she slide into the gray corner?
They both came so close to forgetting who they were. When Zeno suffered in the cage, you described it so well. You must know the pain of being unable to do what makes you who you are.
So why do you scold me for clawing the furniture? Cats scratch to make our mark. Cats hunt for food—even if the tuna we find is in your sandwich. We must be true to ourselves.
I think you understand that. You showed such sympathy for the animals––for a human.
Like that other review in Publishers Weekly said, you do know something about cross-species friendship.
