The Book Nook

Our Faithful Companions Many of us have seen ads for lost pets.  Some are short and simple while others go into great detail.    You may see rewards offered or compelling phrases such as “heartbroken child” or “needs medicine”, to convey the sense of loss and the hope of being reunited with the lost animal. Today we have two non-fiction accounts of missing pets.  One is the story of a family who lose their dog while boating and the other describes the events surrounding a cat’s disappearance.  While I normally avoid spoilers, today I’m promising that both books have a happy ending. Let’s start with “Sophie” by Emma Pearse.  While dogs are lost and reunited with their families all the time, few can boast the extraordinary circumstances associate with Sophie’s story.  We don’t need to go far back in time as the story starts in 2009, but we do have to travel all the way to Australia. There we meet Jan and Dave Griffith and their sixteen-year-old daughter Bridget.  While Bridget waged a long battle to get her own dog, her parents consistently refused.  A persistent teen, she convinced Jan to go with her to a local pet store “just to see the puppies”.   Jan saw they were the family’s breed of choice - cattle dogs and I think you can guess what happens next.  Enter Sophie, a dog who will win hearts with her great personality and fierce devotion to her people. At home, the canine’s behavior was so impressive that she was the first dog allowed to stay inside at night.  After Bridget left for college, Sophie sulked before reluctantly transferring her allegiance to Dave and Jan.  They took her everywhere – even on their 32-foot boat when they motored from their home in Mackay to the South Cumberland Islands some 20 miles away. It was on one of these trips that Sophie disappeared overboard while they were navigating through a particularly rough passage between islands.  Although they combed the area, no sign of Sophie could be found.  Horrible questions filled their minds – had she hit the side of the boat and lost consciousness?  Could she see their boat but they couldn’t see her?  Was she still alive and waiting to be rescued? For the next four months the family agonized over her fate until an unbelievable series of events led them to be reunited with their beloved dog.  Sophie’s story made the news around the globe and defies any claim that there’s no real bond between dogs and humans.  No one knows exactly how Sophie survived, and the author combines theories, eyewitness accounts and details from the family to weave a remarkable tale.  Included are photos of the family (including Sophie of course), the area and the people involved in this heart-warming story. The tale is told in straightforward prose and contains interesting information about the islands and their topography, currents and inhabitants.  We learn how much the family loved their dogs and how amazingly devoted Sophie was to them.  Another remarkable factor is how fate played a hand in reuniting everyone. Next up is “Lost Cat” by Caroline Paul.  This light-hearted true story chronicles the tale of Tibby, a cat who disappears from her home in San Francisco. The story opens when the author is taken to a hospital following a serious accident.  When she’s told the name of her broken bones she laughs.  That’s because tibia and fibula also happen to be the names for her cats, affectionately known as Tibby and Fibby. Once home, Caroline finds long-term bed rest accompanied by too much TV and strong pain-killers is depressing, but Fibby and Tibby serve as her lifeline and a reminder that life will return to normal.  She’s unconcerned when Tibby disappears because she’s always come and gone as she pleased.  When her disappearance stretches from days to weeks, she panics. Unable to search on her own, friends canvass the neighborhood and post flyers on her behalf.  When Tibby reappears unharmed and unfazed five weeks later, Caroline wonders what happened.  Conjecture morphs into obsession as feelings of betrayal and jealousy take hold.  Perhaps the combination of cabin fever and pain meds fuel her wacky theories about Tibby’s life away from home.  What ensues is a funny account of someone determined to stalk her own cat. There are several things that make this short read so engaging.  One is the author’s ability to poke fun at herself as she confesses to thoughts and actions others would keep private.  She also shares that her partner (and the book’s illustrator) is not a cat-lover and therefore incapable of understanding her feelings and wacky actions. Another asset is the wonderful color illustrations and photos throughout the book that serve to highlight the humor and propel the storyline.  It’s a book that can be easily picked up and set down or read in one or two sittings and is funny enough to lift anyone’s spirits. I read somewhere that pet owners enjoy better physical and mental health than others.  Studies show the act of petting animals or hearing a cat’s purr can lower blood pressure.  That’s not hard to believe and these books reminded me how much a gap can be created when we lose a pet.  They certainly enrich our lives in wonderful ways and offer us something humans usually don’t – unconditional love.    And that’s something worth purring or barking about.