Told by her pastor that animals don't have souls, young Rose (Body Sharers) didn't believe him—and she still doesn't. This memoir, which recounts her lifelong passion for animals, gathers momentum and gains the reader's full attention when the adult Rose adopts a Border collie, the runt of a litter. Demanding and ditzy, beautiful and bright, Kierney becomes the love of Rose's life. The dog understands whole English sentences (according to her besotted owner) and possesses great joie de vivre. But Kierney is not an easy pet: she demands most of Rose's time and attention, and she bites. The family veterinarian gives her a diagnosis—"she's insane"—that mollifies Rose and husband Joe for a while. However, when the next vet diagnoses epilepsy and the dog begins to have frequent grand mal seizures, they realize the severity of Kierney's problems. Against great odds, the couple works tirelessly to help Kierney lead a normal life. The couple's obsession with their dog can be disquieting at times, leading one to wonder if they kept Kierney alive too long. Yet seldom has the intensity of a dog-human bond been expressed so clearly. Rose writes, "Getting to know an animal was like traveling to another country, a body unlike mine, habits and wisdom with strange logic, the surprising landscape of another brain, its alien weather systems, a new sky." Agent, Kimberly Witherspoon.
(July
)
Forecast:Rose's success in fiction—her first novel was a PEN/Hemingway finalist—may attract critical attention to this nonfiction effort.
