Book Review of The Cat by Edeet Ravel [SPOILERS]

Hi everyone,

This will sound a touch more formal than many of my other posts because of the subject matter, but no worries, I will most likely be taking on this voice only when I am doing book reviews as it is what I am used to for these sort of topics.  Beyond that, you can definitely be expecting my more casual, often sarcastic, voice in my other posts.

So recently, I have finished this novel which is about a mother, named Elise, who just lost her son in a car accident and documents her life in the months that follow in a stream of consciousness writing style.  I thought that Edeet's choice in writing style is fantastic because it really lets the reader get into Elise's mind.  Strange and fragmented as it may be, the reader is still able to easily follow her train of thought which allows for a simple integration of her past before her son's death and before her marriage to Neil, her son's father.  This, of course, turns out to be vital information later on as is revealed in her therapy sessions and in the events that lead her to her road of recovery.

Although the reader does not spend a lifetime growing up with Elise and her son, Edeet does write him and Elise's perceptions of him well which gives the reader the sense of how heavy and poignant Elise's depression is set in.  It is easy for the reader to understand Elise's depression and her thought processes from first losing her son to the end of the book as the reader gains a fascinating insight as to how she works and the reader is able to track her slow journey towards recovery.  Edeet is sure to intersperse significant fond and painful memories of Elise's son within her narrative so as to not depict their relationship as unrealistically perfect allowing the reader to identify with her more whether the reader has been a parent or not.

Of course, at this point, you are probably wondering how these details tie in with the book's title. At the beginning of the novel, Elise and her son adopted a cat whom they later named Persephone, Pursie for short.  This is an adorable moment in the brief time the reader spends with the son while he is alive that I find incredibly touching since it is so telling of his genuine caring personality and love for animals.  It is because of her son's love of Pursie that Elise forces herself to stay alive to care for her instead of killing herself to join her son as she wants to do throughout the novel.  As a result of staying alive and having to function to keep Pursie fed and healthy, Elise is able to make her eventual journey towards recovery.

Now, although I've given plenty of praise to the book, you need to keep in mind that I am not a mother, and so, have not lost a child.  This means that as much as I can try to empathise with Elise, at this point in time, I can not do so fully.  As sad as I can be for her, I can never compare my feelings to hers, even if I had lost a child, because everyone handles grief and depression differently.  So, this novel did not have a huge impact on me emotionally.  It did remind me to be appreciative of who I have in my life because life is short and can end extremely unexpectedly, some times for no reason whatsoever.  This is nothing new to me as I am the type of person who does try to live in the moment as I do occasionally contemplate the mortality of myself and loved ones, morbid though this may sound.  Overall, this book did not have a huge impact on me and my perspectives, but I did find it to be a good, engaging read that kept me interested in what Elise would do next and generally pleased as I saw her progress on her way to begin her recovery.