MISS MINK

Miss Mink, human “cat countess,” relates 20 lessons she has gleaned from her 67 cats.

According to the introduction, Marcella Mink became a cat countess by welcoming those 67 cats into her mansion by the sea. She started her own cruise-ship line when her kitties were denied boarding privileges on other lines. Despite a successful business, she was sad until she learned the 20 lessons presented here from her cats. “Lesson One: Start the day off right with a proper grooming.” Miss Mink brushes her hair at a lavish vanity while her many feline friends (of a great many breeds) get their grooming on around her. “Lesson Five: Eat your greens first and dessert will taste even sweeter.” Miss Mink enjoys (and shares with a puss) a salad while her cats munch catnip and various household greenery. Lesson 16 counsels a catnap in the afternoon, and 19 suggests that friendships will lend needed support. Hill’s whimsical self-help tome, a companion to her canine-focused Miss Moon (2016), would make a splendid gift for any feline fan. Her illustrations, oils on canvas, have a 1920s flair to judge by the white human protagonist’s hair and attire, and they tweak the life lessons and adages they accompany with a touch of feline humor.

Pretty and positive (and posh).