Edeet Ravel

This book broke my heart in a million pieces and I could not stop reading until I knew what would happen to Elise. That a writer can convey so much pain and empathy in such a short book is amazing. I felt her every joy, loss, fear and angered emotion while she was forced to deal with living in a world that changed forever in one quick and senseless act. I had to know, could she survive and how she could ever regain a sense of normalcy again. Very well written. Very concise. Extremely show more absorbing. I will remember this book for a long time to come. show less

****I recieved this book free from Penguin Exclusive Firstreads****

What a journey...a journey no parent ever wants to take. "The Cat" by Edeet Ravel, propels the reader into one woman's grief over the loss of her 11 year old son.

I found the beginning of the book slightly confusing, with Elise the central character, rambling on and jumping from one topic to the next....until my brain clicked in that this was written this way on purpose. The author was pulling us into the vortex of emotions show more of a grieving mother: sadness, fear, denial, anger, defeat. The fact that it was jumbled and confusing was just re-enforcing her state of mind. I thought the fact that her son's name is never mentioned and is only ever referred to as "my son" or "our son" was one of the most heart wrenching parts and spoke volumes. The ending of the book left me a little unsatisfied....I found it rather unrealistic and felt that it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book.

Overall, the book was extremely well written and as the story progressed I enjoyed it more and more. This is a book that will linger in your subconscious long after you finish reading it.....

This would make a fantastic Book Club read.
Enjoy! :) show less

Edeet Ravel's new novel, The Cat, tells the story of a single mother whose son is killed in a car accident. Beginning shortly after Elise returns from the hospital, the story is weighted down with an overwhelming grief. Already solitary by nature and her upbringing, Elise wants nothing more than to join her son in death, but the presence of her son's cat prevents her; she knows he would want her to care for Pursie. And so, painfully, Elise continues to live and slowly finds herself drawn show more back into the living world despite herself.

As you might imagine, this isn't a fun or comfortable read. There are stark and unforgiving emotions on display. I have a son just a few years younger than Elise and, like them, my son and I went to the Humane Society one afternoon to adopt a cat. But the emotions Ravel describe ring so horribly true that I don't think one needs to identify with the main character so much as to identify with her humanity and the pain she's enduring. Despite the subject matter, I enjoyed The Cat. Elise is prickly and unfriendly, but she's also capable of kindness and understanding. And the book ends on a note of hopefulness. show less

Stunning.....absolutely stunning story. I almost didn't read this after scanning the jacket blurb:

Single mother Elise is devoted to her son; he is her world. But that world is shattered in one terrifying moment when her son is killed in a car accident. Lost, angry, and desolate, Elise sees no point in going on, and longs to join her son. But despair is not an option; Elise must stay alive to take care of her son's beloved cat, Pursie.

Already this wasn't working for me. This one is elegant, show more lean writing at its best. There isn't a wasted word. While the reader can feel and understand the torture that Elise goes through, and can become immersed in the struggle, the detached dreamlike quality of the narration keeps it from becoming too maudlin, too ugly, or too unthinkable. Having Elise herself narrate what it happening, and letting her memories surface to explain how and why she is grieving makes this a beautiful tale.

The cat is the excuse Elise uses to continue on, but the feline never becomes the real story. Had that happened it would have been a travesty. Instead, the good kitty stays in the background, available when needed, but never pushing into the limelight. As Elise goes through the first few months of her self-imposed isolation, she deals with the memories of her own childhood, her feelings toward her mother, her son's father, her previous lover, and her only childhood friend. Each of these characters is described with just enough detail to fit in, but never intrudes on the story which is essentially Elise's.

Although it's set in Canada, the setting could have been anywhere. The time frame is a bit more important because the isolation and communications issues are very much influenced and framed by modern day media and communications devices.

In the end, Ravel manages to leave the reader with a sense of hope without closing the door on any possibilities. I wish she had been able to expand the ending a bit more. It seemed almost to say "OK, now here's a way to solve this mess, I'll leave it right here." Disappointing perhaps, but then again, this young woman is never going to have her life wrapped up with a pretty bow, so leaving the future open is quite realistic. show less