‘If I keep writing from my heart, I think Mum was saying it could do some good – not just for me, but for other people as well. There was something really urgent about it, too. Mum and Cleo were telling me to hurry up an finish it. They don’t want me to waste time.’
The prospect of running out of time hadn’t occurred to me before. It was something I was about to confront.
When her beloved cat Cleo died, Helen Brown vowed that she would never get another one -hers was a one-cat family. Cleo had come into their life when they needed healing, and seen them through some tough times – and some good ones, too. But a friend tells her that her old cat will, one day, choose a new one for her – the cat she is meant to have. As she battles breast cancer, Helen meets a feisty kitten called Jonah and, once again, there’s a cat in the house.
Jonah is different than Cleo. He’s a highly-stung, egocentric escape artist full of energy and happy to let his family know when he’s not pleased. At times Helen wonders what she’s let herself in for. But at other times, Jonah proves to be just the medicine she – and her family – need. Jonah is there as Helen recovers from her mastectomy, writes her first book, organises her son’s wedding, and struggles with her daughte’rs desire to become a Buddhist nun.
After Cleo Came Jonah is a warm, honest and uplifting account of family life amidst challenges and joys, with special focus on the mother-daughter relationship and the impact of facing one’s own mortality. A sequel to the best selling Cleo, readers will be delighted to spend more time with Helen and her family, in this intimate , heart-warming offering.
After Cleo Came Jonah, by Cleo Brown
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781742377773
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