- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; (Reissue) edition (5 Jun 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0586090614
- ISBN-13: 978-0586090619
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 493,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
‘Splendidly realised Cornish moorland setting, wellies, ruts, dripping sheep…Gale’s specialist forte being pathos into bathos, tears of desolation leaking into the gravy, but he writes about the difficult emotions with delicacy, perception and a rare ferocious charm.’ Guardian
‘“The Cat Sanctuary” is a book with claws. It has a soft surface – a story set in sloping Cornish countryside, touching on love, families and forgiveness, delivered in a gentle, straightforward prose – but from time to time it catches you unawares. Scratch the surface, suggests Gale, and you draw blood.’ The Times
‘Gale’s novels always catch one a little short with their flaky situations and obliquely deranged behaviour. It is only later – when the slippery charm has conveyed its resilience to everyday brutalities never far away – that his books reveal their grace and beauty. While no less light-footed than its predecessors, “The Cat Sanctuary” has darker intimations…The tone is gentle rather than militant, as though the crushing masculinity the women have experienced might find some small antidote in the tender mercies of his style.’ Observer
‘Gale is a charmingly idiosyncratic writer who could not write a cliché if he tried. Spiced with mischievous irony, this engrossing story contains some interesting apercus on the process of novel writing.’ Telegraph
‘Like Gale’s previous novels, it’s an elegantly menacing, enjoyable read that starts as it means to go on – dynamically. “The Cat Sanctuary” presents people’s lives and coiled springs, wound tighter and tighter until suddenly they unleash themselves on their nearest and dearest…It’s a deep and moving book; highly recommended.’ New Woman
‘Gale’s writing is marvellously entertaining, and there is a compelling sense of biting deep into the core of the bitter truth.’ Cosmopolitan
‘A dark tale of loss, sex and mistrust … A sensitive, thoughtful novel with a conclusion that is both unsettling and consistent.’ Time Out
‘A powerful and moving novel in which the darkness is often lightened by the author’s deft touches of comedy.’ Independent on Sunday
‘Much of this is very funny, but that should not obscure the fact that Gale’s comedy is rooted in the acceptance of the inevitability of pain.’ TLS
‘Sophisticated in its conception and stylish in its execution, it is easily his best novel to date. Another book to read and re-read.’ Gay Times
Product Description
A powerful and moving novel in which Patrick Gale casts a compassionate yet satirically sharp eye over the pains and abuses inflicted by families, friends and lovers.
Judith and Deborah are sisters driven apart by traumatic events in their childhood, but thrown back together again when Deborah’s diplomat husband is accidentally assassinated. Judith’s lover, Joanna, the instigator of this awkward reunion, finds that as the sisters’ murky past is raked up, so too is her own, and the three women become embroiled in a tangle of passion and recrimination.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Patrick Gale is a master storyteller and The Cat Sanctuary a powerful and moving book shot through with humour and humility. Essentially it is the story of two sisters, Deborah and Julia separated for years by geography, personality and sexuality. Tragic circumstances throw them back together when Deborah's diplomat husband is accidentally assassinated and as the grief begins to subside skeletons start falling out of cupboards. In a cottage in Cornwall they and Joanna, Julia's lover, are forced to confront their pasts as well as the awkwardness of their present. This is a beautiful yet truthful study of the pain unwittingly inflicted by friends, lovers and family. This book is supremely well-observed. The backdrop of the Cornish countryside in all its moods is a metaphor for the stormy and capricious nature of relationships - you can almost taste the mist and it's a beautiful place to lose yourself for an hour or two.
As in his other novels there's a supporting cast of eccentric and bizarre characters all of whom are sympathetically and truthfully drawn. Patrick Gale has the ability to make the extraordinary seem usual and the usual extraordinary. His characters live on in the mind well after the final page is turned.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As with Patrick Gale's other books, I find too many unwieldy and awkward sentences - I do wish he'd get rid of all those oddly-placed and irritating "howevers". However, the characters and situations are fascinating, and the reader gradually warms to the initially drippy but eventually courageous Deborah, Judith's bereaved sister. The relationship between the sisters is uneasy, and gradually we discover that both have reasons to feel guilt and shame about their childhood. The minor characters are well-drawn, especially eccentric Esther of the eponymous cat sanctuary. Ultimately an engrossing book which draws you into difficult relationships, and, like all Gale's novels, has a strong sense of place and community. As with ROUGH MUSIC, I find that Gale is more successful at portraying female relationships than he is at male ones - as all the main characters are female here, the novel shows his strengths.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant book, I couldn't put it down..... 2 down of Patrick Gale... lots more to go... can't wait.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thoroughly enjoyable
I loved this book and found it so compelling it only took me three days to read. I became totally involved with all three of the main characters, warming especially to Joanna and... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by Iain C. Davidson
don't waste your time and money!
"Notes from an Exhibition" is really ok, but this one is a total waste of money and time...
Published on 13 Oct 2009 by F. Bernardo
Another excellent tale from Patrick Gale
Exactly what I have come to expect from Patrick Gale. He writes about feelings and emotions in a way few others can match.
Published on 22 Sep 2009 by Ben
Disappointment
I was a little disappointed in this book, having so enjoyed other novels by Patrick Gale. The story was rather thin and characters somewhat stereotyped. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2009 by V. A. Aitken
well-written and enjoyable
A lovely, well-written and articulate book, full of insights into how people think and feel.
Published on 20 April 2009 by Grand Ma
One of Gale's better books
I enjoyed this book although the bit where the cats are involved (not going to spoil it for you) was very upsetting and the attitude of the women who just stood made me was equally... Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2003
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