Novelist Jennings (Snake
) has penned an affectionate—if uneven—memoir of life with two rambunctious border terriers, Stanley and Sophie, who become her “tonic” and greatest consolation following her husband's death after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Never really a dog person (she initially dismisses them as “handbags with a heartbeat”), the author changes her mind after falling in love with Stanley's “prickly, prideful, independent” spirit. Zippy chapters narrate the challenges of their cohabitation, the introduction of Sophie into their pack and a New York known only to dog owners. Jennings strikes jarring notes along the way, however, especially in failing to satisfyingly explore her grief after her husband's death. And in a bizarre twist that will be genuinely shocking to the reader—and despite her avowed adoration of her dogs—Jennings gives both away halfway through the book. Stanley and Sophie are rendered with such warmth and wit that the book suffers greatly from their sudden disappearance, and the author's decision—never elucidated—makes her seem less rather than more familiar as the memoir proceeds. (Aug.)
