Book Synopsis:
For fans of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES, THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS and SHE AND HER CAT, discover the award-winning bestselling Japanese novel that has become an international sensation in this utterly charming celebration of the healing power of cats.
A cat a day keeps the doctor away …
On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Only a select few – those who feel genuine emotional pain – can find it.
The mysterious centre offers a unique treatment for its troubled patients: it prescribes cats as medication.
Get ready to fall in love:
– Bee, an eight-year-old female, mixed breed helps a disheartened businessman as he finds unexpected joy in physical labour;
– Margot, muscly like a lightweight boxer, helps a middle-aged callcentre worker stay relevant;
– Koyuki, an exquisite white cat brings closure to a mother troubled by the memory of the rescue kitten she was forced to abandon;
– Tank and Tangerine bring peace to a hardened fashion designer, as she learns to be kinder to herself;
– Mimita, the Scottish Fold kitten helps a broken-hearted Geisha to stop blaming herself for the cat she once lost.
Brimming with feline comfort and warmth, we see how the company of a wise and satisfied cat never lets us down when we need it most in this irresistible celebration of our furry friends.
My Review:
We’ll Prescribe You A Cat is a cute, heartwarming book that is a must read for all cat lovers.
The book is divided into sections, named for each cat that the character’s are being prescribed. The stories all centre around a mysterious, magical ‘clinic for the soul’ that only appears when the person needs it or wants to find it. In each story we learn more about a different character and their different reasons for wanting to find the clinic. I loved following each character on their journey as we discover more about their lives and seeing how each cat helps them with their problems. I thought all the stories were very different with some of them being heartwarming, some making me cry and some making me laugh out loud as I read about how having a cat impacted on their lives.
I thought that the book had a great pace to it, and I soon found myself absorbed into the stories. Each story gives an insight into Japanese culture which I found fascinating to discover more about particularly how the treat cats there and what their working environment is like. My only slight quibble was that I felt that some of the stories ended a bit abruptly as I would have loved to have followed the characters for longer and find out what happens next for them.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel when it come out next year. I think that being prescribed a cat sounds like a wonderful idea and I wish that it was something I could access in real life. If you are a fan of the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series or like books with magical realism then I think you’ll love this book.
Huge thanks to Doubleday for providing me with an ALC via Libro fm.
About The Author:
Born in 1975 in Kyoto,award-winningauthor Syou Ishida has always adored her cats. She began writing fiction while working at a telecommunications company. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat has been a runaway bestseller in Japan, and is due to be translated into over thirty languages. Its sequel, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, Again will be published worldwide next year.
Over The Rainbow Blog 