Cat Lady: The hot, must-read Richard & Judy Book Club novel for summer 2023 from the Sunday Times bestselling author

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I was simultaneously entertained and devastated. I highly commend O'Porter for their ability to put my feelings on a rollercoaster. Plot Mia has it all: a husband, a stepson, an important job and a cat. However, she increasingly feels as if she is simply holding it all together to present herself the way society wants. If only she could be more like her cat. This is the fifth novel by presenter Dawn O’Porter. Today, the couple live in LA with their two sons, Art, seven, and five-year-old Valentine, and four rescue animals – two dogs and two cats – and there was never any thought that O’Dowd would occupy a pet-free zone, she laughs. Dawn O'Porter challenges the stereotypes of the typical 'cat lady' with this beautiful and emotional read' Reader review

I love Dawn O'Porter's books - I think I've read all of them to date. I loved this one too. I could relate to Mia's love for Pigeon and her wish to protect herself from just about every other living being. We learn about her challenging childhood and how Pigeon saved her from herself in her teens but much as I love my cats, I know that humans need other humans. While her actor husband is recognised a lot, O’Porter, who also has a vintage clothing range with Joanie Clothing, is happy to remain out of the showbiz spotlight. The pet grief group really emanated and highlighted the companionship, love and happiness pets can bring to your life, how important and vital they can be, particularly in times of heartache and distress of bringing some peace, relief and brightness to the hardest of days, when all seems lost. I also loved the emphasis on how valid every grief is, it doesn't matter whether it's grief of a dog, hamster, rabbit, cat etc. it's all completely valid and important, and not to diminish these feelings just because other's have an opinion. It's such a beautiful and meaningful reminder to take with you. Main character Gary, a man with a job that Mortimer used to have, in the same location where Mortimer used to work. He also has the exact same cadence, vocabulary and thought processes as Mortimer, as seen in his long digressions about pies. That said, Gary is described as having a slightly larger nose than Mortimer, so they are definitely different people. AD: Thanks to Tandem Collective UK and Harper Collins for my free copy of this book in return for an honest review]Mia is 45, and happily married (separate bedrooms), lives in a nice house (originally bought by her hubby and his first wife), is a great step mum (although the first wife/mother is always popping round); has a great job (she has to micromanage the gormless chief executive) and is in love (with her cat, 'Pigeon') and is pretty much living the ideal conventional life, but is this the life that Mia wants?

Writing style This is a book about a woman who essentially devolves (or evolves, as it would like us all to think) into an animal, which makes it a slightly less high-minded version of Paula Cocozza’s novel How to Be Human. It rips along at a decent clip and, even though O’Porter now lives in Los Angeles, does a very good job of depicting the empty aspirational scuzz of the London creative scene. In fact, this is where it thrives. The chapters about Mia’s awful workplace are much more compelling than the ones where she stops washing and pretends to be a cat.Mia, the mother: She dotes on her stepson Oliver. She and her husband Tristan have an unconventional relationship with Oliver's mother, Belinda, but Mia puts up with it for the sake of keeping the family together. Plus, she is utterly devoted to her cat, Pigeon. She is his mother.

Mia has made the best of her life after a difficult childhood: good job, nice house and a stable marriage. OK so she loves her cat Pigeon more than her husband Tristan, is irritated by most of her colleagues, has no friends, and has to put up with her husband’s awful ex-wife Belinda for the sake of her stepson Oliver - but whose life is perfect?She tends to base her books in the UK, although she’ll be writing another novel next year, set for the the first time in LA.

I had one of the most significant relationships of my life with my cat of 16 years. I had her when I was 24 until I was 41, and when she died, I was absolutely heartbroken. It made me realise how big a deal pet grief is to people, and how it can feel as painful as losing somebody. I wanted to write a book that honoured that." Mark asked Dawn ‘How much did your career in TV documentaries prepare you for your life now as a writer?’ Although my husband was sad, there was no one who felt the same way as me, and therefore I dealt with her death in the way that felt right for me and no one else. I had her freeze-dried, a process where she was dehydrated using extremely cold temperatures over the course of 10 months, preserving her perfectly to look just as she did on the day she died, and now she sits happily, but 100% dead, on a chair in my dining room. See, I told you I was a Cat Lady. Mia hasn't had a great life and she often attends support groups even though she hasn't got the problem that they relate to. In the book she attends a support group for people whose pets have died as she is so scared of Pigeon dying but obviously doesn't tell them her pet is still alive. Porter first came to widespread public attention when she attempted to slim down to a size zero by using drastic dieting regimes for the BBC documentary Super Slim Me. Porter also presented the product-testing section of How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4. [5]Main character Sally, a woman who gleefully rediscovers her can-do attitude when all the unnecessary peripherals start to fall away. Writing style Norton, it turns out, is a magnificent novelist. The story of Forever Home is a simple one, but it hinges on a big twist halfway through. A lesser writer would have hurried to get to the big moment sooner, or at least gleefully started to drop bigger and bigger breadcrumbs. But Norton is a model of restraint. He spends chapter after chapter making doubly sure you feel the way he wants you to feel about each character before dropping his bomb. She believes it is possible to love pets more than people. "I think the relationship people have with their pets is so intimate, when something relies on you entirely for survival and you rely on it entirely for all the pleasurable things it gives you, it’s a completely uncomplicated pure exchange of love relationship – and it’s hard to find that with people." The moral of the story is, no one's life is perfect, which is told in both a humourous and poignant way.