The indelible cat heroine of this unexpected tale recalls her life with ‘the Mustache,’ her beloved owner. Trapped in a one-way mirrored box, displayed in a classroom for people who must contemplate her fate as part of their training to become ‘Emotional Support Humans,’ she weaves a self-soothing paean to the poetry, music, and creature comforts she shared with her Mustache-the best products of a society that has gone off the rails in its violence and intolerance. The trainees in the room, a motley crew our kitty describes with a novelistic flair of her own, are assigned to consider what they feel about her. They also argue about whether there’s really a cat in there, or are they just being manipulated? Their daily required quizzes are as poignant and witty as our narrator herself. Meanwhile, the mystery of her cat-kidnapping is revealed to us, along with her potential next move on a more spectral plane. An elegy to freedom, dignity, and connection for all living beings, this slim novel stirs powerful feelings in the reader as it shows us to ourselves from the other side of the mirror.
