People and Other Animals

The book is a memoir drawn from the journals and observations of the author who documents a journey across the US to an unknown city in Northern California's Bay Area. The narrative belongs to one who always expects the unexpected. The neighborhood is new and the author explores the streets and terrain on foot. As the characters emerge, the essence of the city reveals itself. A silver haired woman next door who feeds feral cats, a reclusive couple across the fence who nurture wildlife, curious occupants of a no-pet building, a paralysed man with an emotional support cat and a menagerie of wild and tame creatures in the author's backyard.

A feral cat enters the author's home, giving birth to a kindle of kittens. Here begins a story of nurture which weaves itself into a lifetime's commitment to animal love. The author, domesticating the young family, plunges headlong into a web of animal rights activists and rescuers. The rhythm of everyday life is colored by the antics of a family of cats.

The cycle of life is sweet. Sometimes bittersweet. It defines for the reader the amity between humans and animals from a nearness and depth that is rare to find.