The Secrets of Lost Cats: One Woman, Twenty Posters, and a New Understanding of Love

When therapist Davidson’s cat Zak went missing, she reacted by setting off on an intense search. Her efforts were met with more success than she anticipated; not only did she recover Zak, she also gained insight about her neighbors, and a curiosity about the other lost pets whose posters she saw. What followed was an exploration of the people and animals behind all the other lost pet posters in her neighborhood. The resulting book is a collection of 20 case studies, each named after a different cat. Not all the stories end as happily as Davidson’s, and even hers is touched by inevitable cat mortality. However, each of the brief glimpses into cat owners’ lives proves captivating. Davidson has an engaging writing style and clever concept; people’s relationships with pets can reveal much about their personalities, and how a pet owner reacts when his or her pet is suddenly lost can be even more illuminating. Davidson has taken a narrow interest—cat ownership—and used it to examine human nature. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (July)