Avalon by Vanessa Morgan

Non-fiction, memoir

105 pp

June, 2015

e-book: $3.89

p-book: $9.99

From the publisher:

Some cats need nine lives to make a difference. Avalon only needed one.

From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost impossible for her to leave the house. Avalon was so incorrigible that even her landlord ordered her to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon's demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and insecurities, and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty, Avalon transformed into a tender feline, and even landed a major role in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for his human companion.

By turns jubilant and deeply moving, Avalon is a memoir for anyone who has ever been obsessively in love with a pet.

My review:

Vanessa Morgan is a Belgian and author and screen writer.

Anyone who quotes Dean Koontz as an epigraph gives you a certain expectation.

You’d think Europeans would have a different take on animal obsession, but apparently not. Even after visiting Greece and Turkey last summer where cats roam at will and become beloved but not possessed by locals, it’s apparent that kitty love exists on a different plane of reality.

Morgan writes the memoir of a twelve-year relationship with a found feline in her neighborhood in Belgium where she lives and works. Her cat love for the rare species of Turkish Van helps her see her life and career through different eyes. On one hand Morgan uses Avalon, the cat, to excuse difficult relationships with people, and on the other, she uses him to realize and bring out the qualities of love and self-fulfillment she has buried within her.

Told in first person, real time. Recommended for those who like true pet stories, from bringing the critter home, through antics, feeding, and all the difficult choices one makes regarding lifestyle and life end.

  

About the Author:

Vanessa Morgan is an author, screenwriter, and blogger. Two of her works, The Strangers Outside and A Good Man, have been turned into films. Her short film script Next to Her is currently in pre-production. When she's not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, digging through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats. http://travelling-cats.blogspot.com/ She lives in Belgium.