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5.0 out of 5 stars
The War through a cat's eyes, Dec 29 2002
First, Westall captures cats better than any writer of fiction around. Without descending to silly anthropomorphism, he presents the behavior and perspective of the cat with just enough distance so that anyone who knows cats will recognize the authenticity at once. Lord Gort is a clever, finicky creature who runs away to find her person rather than be stuck with her person's wife and baby during the war. "Psi trailing"-- where animals can find their way to their owners, even when they've never been to the place where the owner has moved-- is a documented phenomenon, and scientists still don't really understand it.Second, Lord Gort's travels give Westall an incredible opportunity to present different episodes in the lives of ordinary English people during the way. So we spend time at a train depot, where Lord Gort is hailed as good luck by hollow-eyed returning soldiers. She lives for awhile with a Scottish captain whose division is requisitioning a small town, and we see through her proximity a wary but tender relationship develop between the lady of the house, whose officer husband is in Egypt, and the captain. I was surprised at such a clear depiction of sexual tension and complex emotions in a YA novel, but it's handled subtly and seriously. Lord Gort is also present at the bombing of Coventry, which many Americans may not really know about-- I didn't. I knew Londoners were evacuated during the war, but had not realized the extent of the devastation-- a whole town of displaced people on the brink of starvation. There's also a wonderful story, complete in itself, about a young war widow on the brink of a life-killing depression, who is jolted by Lord Gort, somewhat against her will, back into life. Her story brought me to tears. This book is a very quick read-- I stayed up all night to finish it-- but it has a lot of information in it. A great book to teach, perhaps at the middle school level, and an enjoyable read for pleasure.
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