This was a great memoir. Author Courtey Gustafson and her partner Tim move into Poets Square, a house they’re renting in Tucson, Arizona, and soon realize that there are 30 feral cats on the property. This starts Gustafson on a journey that becomes so much bigger than just taking care of the cats on the property. That’s how it starts, though, with Gustafson doing her best to feed that cats on a limited budget and worrying about their wellbeing because there are significant limits to what she can do for them at first.
These limits change as Gustafson starts posting about the cats on social media and gets donations to help feed and care for the cats and learns that she also needs to be trapping them to get them spayed and neutered. She also learns that she had “loved cats, but I had never loved cats like this: at their wildest, their most brutal, the way nature had overtaken them and left only suffering, only starvation and death.”* She does eventually get the cats healthy, and many of them are adopted, but there are losses along the way. She then moves on to helping other feral cat colonies throughout the Tucson area, becoming an expert on TNR (trap-neuter-return).
Some of the chapters really stood out. For example, “Men Call Cats Sluts” explores how men sexualize and disparage female cats in heat and extend some unwelcome comments towards Gustafson, as well. Then there is the chapter about Desert Palms community, which is probably one of the most heartwarming and heartbreaking chapters. Gustafson starts caring for a cat colony there and slowly gets to know the poverty-stricken residents, and they try to help as they learn to trust her. She tries to help them in turn, providing not only supplies for the cats but also hand warmers and other supplies for the residents. And then the police come and they are all evicted. Many of them will end up homeless, if they weren’t already. This book is not just about cats; it’s also about broken systems in the U.S.
Gustafson often includes elements of her past, including her struggles with various types of relationships and with her mental health, and ties this into her work with the cats. It’s not always seamless and sometimes works better than others, but it was also lovely to see her growth as a person as she becomes “the cat lady.” Her focus on the cats allows her over time to become less focused on how she is perceived by others. She also realizes how many people are in her corner—some new, some old—which becomes apparent in contrast with people she is helping who have nothing and no one, except their cats.
The last chapter is an incomplete list of names that Gustafson has given cats over the years. It was a game changer when Tim remarked that you can name cats anything at all, even naming them after what they had eaten for dinner. Some of the names are just a blast, such as Dr. Big Butt, Monkey, Reverse Monkey (because of the coloring), and Reduced Fat Sour Cream.
I really enjoyed reading this memoir. Gustafson originally went to college and grad school to be a writer, and I hope she publishes more in the future.
*Note that this is an ARC and quotes could change when the book is officially published.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
