The Blessings of the Animals
From Katrina Kittle, critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers, comes a wry and moving story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on.\ Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch. Stymied by her recent divorce, she wonders if there are secret ingredients to a happy, long-lasting marriage or if the entire institution is outdated and obsolete. Couples all around her are approaching important milestones. Her parents are preparing to celebrate their...
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From Katrina Kittle, critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers, comes a wry and moving story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on. Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch. Stymied by her recent divorce, she wonders if there are secret ingredients to a happy, long-lasting marriage or if the entire institution is outdated and obsolete. Couples all around her are approaching important milestones. Her parents are preparing to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Her brother and his partner find their marriage dreams legally blocked. Her former sister-in-law—still her best friend—is newly engaged. The youthfully exuberant romance of her teenage daughter is developing complications. And three separate men—including her ex-husband—are becoming entangled in Cami's messy post-marital love life. But as she struggles to come to terms with her own doubts amid this chaotic circus of relationships, Cami finds strange comfort in an unexpected confidant: an angry, unpredictable horse in her care. With the help of her equine soul mate, she begins to make sense of marriage's great mysteries—and its disconnects.Publishers WeeklyBeginning with the end of Cami Anderson's marriage, Kittle (The Kindness of Strangers) wades through heartache and tragedy yet manages to find elegance and charm in her latest novel. Cami's distress is palpable as she deals with her husband's seemingly inexplicable decision to leave her and their teenage daughter, Gabriella. Juggling her veterinary practice, her now cynical daughter, and her own feelings takes up all of Cami's time but she soon realizes that she has no monopoly on struggle: her brother and his male partner lose their adopted daughter to the child's biological mother. Cami taps into her own experience with loss to help the couple, which leads her to take a more honest look at her marriage and the new life ahead of her. While Cami stumbles through post-divorce dating and raising Gabriella, her family of animals--horses, cats, dogs, and a goat--provide respite. Cami's reflections, in tandem with those of delightful friends, present a long-view of the nature of marriage and relationships. (Aug.)
\ Publishers WeeklyBeginning with the end of Cami Anderson's marriage, Kittle (The Kindness of Strangers) wades through heartache and tragedy yet manages to find elegance and charm in her latest novel. Cami's distress is palpable as she deals with her husband's seemingly inexplicable decision to leave her and their teenage daughter, Gabriella. Juggling her veterinary practice, her now cynical daughter, and her own feelings takes up all of Cami's time but she soon realizes that she has no monopoly on struggle: her brother and his male partner lose their adopted daughter to the child's biological mother. Cami taps into her own experience with loss to help the couple, which leads her to take a more honest look at her marriage and the new life ahead of her. While Cami stumbles through post-divorce dating and raising Gabriella, her family of animals--horses, cats, dogs, and a goat--provide respite. Cami's reflections, in tandem with those of delightful friends, present a long-view of the nature of marriage and relationships. (Aug.)\ \ \ \ \ Lesley Kagen"Wonderfully poignant characters and a deeply satisfying exploration of love in its many incarnations, some of them a bit furrier than others, make this novel Katrina Kittle’s most insightful yet. Don’t miss it!"\ \ \ Yvonne Zipp…entertaining…Cami has a wry likability that carries the novel over too many romantic entanglements, and, refreshingly, Kittle doesn't believe in fairy tales.\ —The Washington Post\ \
