Le Tomcat Diaries: Lies, Fries, & Blue Skies in the South of France by E.A Menches
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Title: Le Tomcat Diaries: Lies, Fries, & Blue Skies in the South of France
Author: E. A. Menches
Series: n/a
Pages: 119
Publisher: self published
Date: April 6, 2015
Summary:
Mr. Blinkers is not happy about emigrating to the South of France with Hans and Victoria, though he has been promised fountains of tuna.
He should have known it was all a ploy. A British tabby cat knows better than to expect paradise in a foreign country. His point is duly proven when the Provencal villa that they move into turns out to be a disaster.
From the moment the dubious, perfume-laden vendors arrive, things go south for the family.
A perceptive tabby with incomparable skills of deduction, Mr Blinkers is set on a journey to discovering all the aches and pains of the villa, while Hans and Victoria try to recover their losses. At the same time he is adrift in a new place, and not a very nice one.
Follow Mr. Blinkers as his humans survive in the Provencal villa, and he meets his lifelong love Roe, while floods threaten to wash away his favourite sleeping spot. Blinkers will come face to face with Jinx, a one-eared tomcat who terrorizes the street, HIS street.
As Blinkers helps his humans navigate the treacherous French property market, a revenge plot unfolds involving a yappy poodle, the earless shadow cat and a very long, very slippy slide. In the end who knows what lessons Blinkers may pass onto his humans, in his endless quest for more attention, more power, and more tuna.
Join Mr. Blinkers in Le Tomcat Diaries and discover how NOT to invest in the French property market.
Review:
Okay, I loved this book. Yes, I am a cat lover, but I have read cat books that I did not care for. This was not one of them. Menches nailed the cat personality. It was anthropomorphized, but definitely with a strong feline viewpoint.
Mr. Blinkers (poor cat – we humans do come up with the most ridiculous names sometimes) is not happy. He’s not happy about the human male who lives with his human. He’s not happy about moving anywhere, much less someplace outside of his neighborhood. He’s not happy when his tuna does not show up on schedule.
He’s not happy.
And, of course, being a cat, he shows his unhappiness through destructiveness. Nothing, however, can top the disaster that is his new home.
That is the point of the book.
Hans and Victoria purchase a house in the South of France and it is a money pit. The seller and attorney take advantage of their ignorance of the area and they end up with a house that is literally falling apart.
Even worse, they move next door to a dog! Into a neighborhood where there is a cat who bullies and terrorizes all the other cats. Obviously, Mr. Blinkers must take charge.
The entire book is written in first person by Mr. Blinkers. That is what makes it so much fun. Everything is from his viewpoint.
My only caveat regarding the book is to skip the epilogue. The book degenerates into a sales pitch for a company helping people to purchase property in France. Up to that point, I loved it and I still give it five stars.
It is really that entertaining.
This book was sent to me by the author in return for an honest review.
Elaine Reads . . . constantly! 