Cat Lady: The Sunday Times bestseller and the latest funny, brilliant and bold fiction novel for 2023 from the author of So Lucky

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Writing style This is a book about a woman who essentially devolves (or evolves, as it would like us all to think) into an animal, which makes it a slightly less high-minded version of Paula Cocozza’s novel How to Be Human. It rips along at a decent clip and, even though O’Porter now lives in Los Angeles, does a very good job of depicting the empty aspirational scuzz of the London creative scene. In fact, this is where it thrives. The chapters about Mia’s awful workplace are much more compelling than the ones where she stops washing and pretends to be a cat.

Dawn O’Porter X Joanie | Vintage-Inspired Collaboration Range Dawn O’Porter X Joanie | Vintage-Inspired Collaboration Range

Fresh, funny and for anyone who’s ever felt astray, CAT LADY will help you belong – because a woman always lands on her feet. Dawn O’Porter challenges the stereotypes of the typical ‘cat lady’ with this beautiful and emotional read’ Reader review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ As always, Dawn O'Porter writes unforgettable, quirky characters and stories that stay with you, for both good and bad reasons. But the good far outweighs the bad. Dawn O’Porter is an author, director, broadcaster, and co-founder of the charity Choose Love. Known for her investigative journalism, Dawn first made a name for herself in front of the camera in her 2007 BBC documentary Super Slim Me. Since then, she’s presented several documentaries covering everything from attitudes to pregnancy and childbirth to polyamory in the USA and breast cancer. In 2014, Dawn hosted This Old Thing, a Channel 4 series she co-produced exploring vintage clothing that she later adapted into a book. Who should buy this book? Fans of The Great British Bake Off, especially fans who have just started to notice how wobbly the show has got without her. The Bullet That Missed by Richard OsmanThe pet grief group really emanated and highlighted the companionship, love and happiness pets can bring to your life, how important and vital they can be, particularly in times of heartache and distress of bringing some peace, relief and brightness to the hardest of days, when all seems lost. I also loved the emphasis on how valid every grief is, it doesn't matter whether it's grief of a dog, hamster, rabbit, cat etc. it's all completely valid and important, and not to diminish these feelings just because other's have an opinion. It's such a beautiful and meaningful reminder to take with you.

Member Reviews | NetGalley

Mia, managing director at Isabella May Jewellery, regularly attends a pet grief therapy session, despite the fact her sixteen year old cat, Pigeon is still very much alive. At a party full of Mia's husband, Tristan's friends and ex-wife, Mia finds herself being consistently berated and the brunt of many a joke, for her adoration of cats and persistence at keeping Pigeon as an indoor cat. These comments of course lead to chaos, drama and hilarity, when Pigeon vomits all over Tristan's ex-wife's pavlova in sheer, unadulterated malice. Thus begins our journey as we see Mia navigating the world, through loss, heartache, laughter and happiness, all with her trusty Pigeon along for the ride. Mia has made all the right choices. She’s married, she has the nice house, the good career. But life isn’t about fitting into a box. And there’s another woman inside her who’s just clawing to get out . . . An ode to finding your people and a celebration of the small things that bring us together’ Emma Gannon Writing style Norton, it turns out, is a magnificent novelist. The story of Forever Home is a simple one, but it hinges on a big twist halfway through. A lesser writer would have hurried to get to the big moment sooner, or at least gleefully started to drop bigger and bigger breadcrumbs. But Norton is a model of restraint. He spends chapter after chapter making doubly sure you feel the way he wants you to feel about each character before dropping his bomb. Plot Mia has it all: a husband, a stepson, an important job and a cat. However, she increasingly feels as if she is simply holding it all together to present herself the way society wants. If only she could be more like her cat. This is the fifth novel by presenter Dawn O’Porter.Plot A story told over four generations of Welsh women – an unstoppable pensioner, her estranged daughter, her abandoned daughter, and then her daughter – written by the actor and Gavin and Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones. Can these women heal the complex wounds that drove them apart? Really gets the reader to think about what matters in life Unputdownable and completely wonderful!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Previous works Two other Thursday Murder Club books, Richard Osman’s House of Games, A Pointless History of the World, The World Cup of Everything: Bringing the Fun Home. Animals bring people together. Cats make people who might otherwise be alone, not alone. There is nothing crazy about a woman just because she lives alone with cats. Well, that’s not what I see anyway. I see someone who has a lot of love in their heart who chooses to take care of a cat who needs her as much as she needs it. For me, it’s a sign of a person with a huge heart, not a cold one. Unless she’s got a dead one in her dining room, of course. Then she’s probably as batty as they come.

Richard Osman, Mel Giedroyc … every celebrity wants to be a

Cover quote “His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting” – Marian Keyes (again). I enjoyed this one, if you're already a fan of the author's writing, you'll love it. If you like quirky characters and some bizarre, laugh out loud scenarios, then you'll also love it.I loved seeing Mia grow into her confidence, and allow herself to be who she truly is beneath all the facades she shows everyone. Finally allowing space for those she loves to get close to her, and coming to terms with her past, whilst not letting it define her or suffocate her anymore. It was a truly empowering story, she has a lot of strength and bravery in her, and it was beautiful to see her finally flourishing. I am not a “Crazy Cat Lady”, though. Oh no. According to society’s imagination, that is a spinster in her later years who lives alone with one or more cats. She is, by all accounts, quite odd and a bit sad. It’s all wrapped up in society’s inability to accept that a woman can be satisfied without a man. It’s meant as an insult and used in a derogatory way to suggest someone is unlovable or maybe even selfish for choosing cats over children. If, of course, that was a choice she even got to make. What nonsense.

Cat Lady | Dawn O’Porter | 9780008385415 | NetGalley Cat Lady | Dawn O’Porter | 9780008385415 | NetGalley

Plot Sally Parker is the bored wife of an elaborately rich hedge fund manager. She has a full-time nanny, a chef and someone to groom her dogs. But when her husband suddenly goes bankrupt, all this is whipped away from her and she can start to find herself again. This debut novel comes from the comedian and former Bake Off co-host Mel Giedroyc, one half of Mel and Sue.It was in LA that I met my now husband, Chris. Lilu puked on his side of the bed the night after he stayed over for the first time. She could be terrible and full of vitriol when she thought my attention might be taken from her. It was a sketchy start to their relationship, but they worked it out. I’d go as far to say they loved each other deeply. Every woman who owns a cat will want this Dawn O’Porter book. Photograph: Dave M Benett/Getty Images Plot A fiftysomething woman is devastated when her partner is diagnosed with dementia and his children turf her out of the home they shared. Her partner was insistent that the house should never be sold. But why? Graham Norton, now an established author in addition to his TV and radio career, finds out. Main character Sally, a woman who gleefully rediscovers her can-do attitude when all the unnecessary peripherals start to fall away.