The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa #BookReview

It’s not the journey that counts, but who’s at your side.

Nana, a cat, is devoted to Satoru, his owner. So when Satoru decides to go on a roadtrip one day to find him a new home, Nana is perplexed. They visit Satoru’s old friends from his school days and early youth. His friends may have untidy emotional lives but they are all animal lovers, and they also wonder why Satoru is trying to give his beloved cat away. Until the day Nana suddenly understands a long-held secret about his much-loved owner, and his heart begins to break.

Narrated in turns by Nana and by his owner, this funny, uplifting, heartrending story of a cat is nothing if not profoundly human.

I was a little bit afraid to pick this one up because I believed and had heard that there would be tears involved when reading this (I couldn’t resist buying a copy at the airport last year though) so I left it sitting on my shelf. It has a wonderful cover so I looked at it regularly since then and suddenly I felt I could handle whatever was laying ahead and I went through all my nine boxes to find it again :-).

The story is about a cat called Nana (and he is the narrator of the story)  and his owner Saturo. the story of how they found each other and what happens when they visit Saturo’s old friends. There’s a great deal of friendship, of selflessness and of kindness to be found in the novel and of course it is a perfect novel for cat owners. I don’t know if everyone gets how much you can love an animal but I do, I understood Saturo’s affection to Hachi (his first cat) and to Nana fully.

In the end the author sums up a few of the things the duo came across on their travels and it filled my heart because then I fully felt how wonderful their friendship and journey was together. Of course there was the expected heartbreak as well, it wasn’t really a surprise what was coming and in what form it was going to present itself. In fact I knew as soon as they started their roadtrip. The ending was indeed very touching. There were no traumatizing Marley and Me moments though, it’s nothing of the sort. No it’s the sheer beauty of love and loyalty to ones owner, an owner who’s like a cat whisperer. Saturo knew Nana’s thoughts and Nana was a well-behaved cat who absolutely loved her owner. I can only hope my cat feels the same about me, I’d like to think she does anyway and this heart-warming novel makes me want to give her extra cuddles!

I bought a copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

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